AUSTIN, Texas — Early voting in the primary runoff election starts on Monday, May 16, and Republican voters aren't the only ones who have to decide who will be in the attorney general race this November.
Five democrats ran in March. Now, former American Civil Liberties Union attorney Rochelle Garza is facing off against attorney and former mayor of Galveston Joe Jaworski, grandson of Watergate special prosecutor Leon Jaworski.
Garza earned 43% of the vote while Jaworski earned 19.8%.
Both candidates sat down with KVUE.
Tell voters about why you believe you're the better candidate.
Rochelle Garza: "You know, I'm a Latina from from the border, the daughter of two public school teachers, a fifth-generation Texan, a new mom. I know what everyday Texans are going through. I know what it takes to fight for civil rights and get important civil rights reinforced across the country. And that's what we're going to need in the attorney general race. You know, once we're at the point where we're going up against Ken Paxton, we need we need a real voice that understands what people are going through and that could actually fight for civil rights, make sure that people have access to health care, that their right to access the ballot box is respected. We need somebody who's going to protect workers rights. And those are the things that that I bring to the table. I'm a fighter and I'm going to fight for every single Texan to have a fair shot to get ahead."
Joe Jaworski: "Well, thank you, Ashley. And it's been a real pleasure running with all of my colleagues, Ms. Garza, Mr. Merritt and the others. Even though there was a great vote spread on March 1, it's going to be different in the runoff. There's a lot less voters, more intentional voters, Ashley, and I think that that matters greatly and it plays to our strengths. Yes, Mr. Merritt endorsed Ms. Garza right away, but those who have endorsed Mr. Merritt have now come to my side – Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, Sen. Boris Miles and many others. The reason I'm the better choice right now for runoff voters on May 24 is we need to nominate the Democrat who can beat Ken Paxton in November. And Ashley, that's going to be myself. I'm a mature attorney. I've been licensed by the state bar for 31 years. My esteemed colleague has been working as a lawyer for six years. I have worked in local government as a mayor, a mayor pro-tem and a city council member for nearly a decade. And Ms. Garza, who is 37, has a bright future ahead of her. She's not had a chance to serve in local government. But I think my experience, having served after Hurricane Ike and supported public housing in a very sort of hostile atmosphere, shows that I know how to handle the crucible and I know how to work on day one. You don't have to worry about Joe Jaworski when he is the attorney general."
Editor's note: Rochelle Garza has been licensed by the State Bar of Texas since December 5, 2013.
If you win this primary and are elected attorney general in November, what's going to be your top priority for the state of Texas? What are you doing day one?
Joe Jaworski: "You know, I've put out some great social media graphics after I developed my day-one menu, Ashley, and there are several of them, but two of my favorites are: No. 1, on day one when I raise this very bright hand and get sworn in as your next Texas attorney general, I will dismiss every lingering piece of litigation against the Affordable Care Act, and I'll do it by lunch. That's number one. Now, by the end of the day, I have something special in mind, Ashley, and it's going to be to hold a press conference right about the time that the local media will be developing their final items for the evening broadcast. And we're going to release all the documents in the attorney general office's possession pertaining to the whistleblower allegations against Mr. Paxton. And I will make them available to the U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI, because there is no way the people's attorney's office, the Office of Texas Attorney General, consequential office, should be hiding anything from the investigators when it comes to Mr. Paxton. It's not his office. It's the people's office."
Rochelle Garza: "Day one, we need to have a full audit of all of the litigation that is outstanding, that is wasteful of our resources. We need to take it back to basics and focus on families and focus on all the things that underpin healthy families. That includes a civil rights division that is fully funded, that addresses voting rights, that ensures we have access to reproductive health care, that protects the LGBTQ community and people with disabilities; that we have a workers protection bureau that ensures that workers are not subject to wage theft or misclassification, and that we have accountability for bad corporate action through our consumer protections. We need to have accountability for what happened with the power outage and the freeze and the price gouging that ensued that all of us experienced in Texas, and the attorney general's office has a huge role to play in this and making sure that we are represented."
The Republican candidates in this race have made the border a top priority for them. Is that something that you also want to focus on? And if so, how are you going to do that?
Joe Jaworski: "Absolutely. I consider it a crisis, but not just because of the number of human beings seeking a better life. I think the border is a crisis due to the performance art coming out of the Governor's Mansion and the Office of Texas Attorney General. Nothing is happening, but billions of dollars are being wasted on performance art. We are repurposing our DPS and our National Guard at great expense to their families and their mental health and not accomplishing much of anything. But I do understand it is a hot topic, so I've got specific items in mind. May I share them with you, Ashley?"
Ashley Goudeau: Absolutely.
Joe Jaworski: "All right. No. 1, I think the Texas Attorney General's Office ought to be partnering positively with the United States Department of Justice. And in that regard, I will take some of my very rich attorney general budget and fund the hiring of eight seasoned prosecutors who will go after the real culprit, the real bad actor here, which is the Mexican cartel. These are the people, this organization, the cartel, is who is engaging in human trafficking, and I don't mean sex trade. I mean literally bringing people across the border and then dumping them on the other side of the Rio Grande River. So if we have more prosecutors, which I will place all along the southern border in the western and the southern districts of the United States of America District Court, then we will be able to prosecute more of those crimes. Also, we have a lot of human beings seeking asylum. Ashley, I think a lot of them are frivolous claims, frankly, but American law, federal law allows you to make the claim nonetheless. We need to do something about the backlog. And until Congress gets its act together, I do think Texas ought to take matters into its own hands. Let's do it positively. So since I am not going to be an embattled attorney general like the incumbent, Mr. Paxton, I'll be out on law school campuses preaching the message that third-year law students can do pro bono representation of these folks asserting asylum claims. And I did it when I was at University of Texas School of Law in the Capital Punishment Clinic. It's a great way to purpose young, experienced law students who will soon become licensed attorneys, just like we do in medical school. And so they will be delighted to get some real-world experience and handle some of the representation in the immigration courts on the border. And then finally, Ashley, there's some under-purposed attorneys in Texas and they would be delighted to be asked on a temporary basis to be special magistrates again, partnering with the United States of America, and be the magistrates to hear these immigration claims. And let's get the backlog cleaned up. Those who qualify for asylum get to stay, those who don't have to go."
Rochelle Garza: "You know, I'm the only candidate that, that is from the border region. I grew up in the Rio Grande Valley. I love my community. It is a really family-oriented community. And we love our neighbors, just like every Texan does. You know, the border region has been used as a wedge issue by the Republican Party, by the state leadership. You know, we need to focus on the things that are actually impacting Texans because focusing on the border that we've seen coming from Ken Paxton and from our, from Gov. Abbott, it's just a distraction from the things that people actually need. So instead of litigating all of these cases against what is a federal government issue, we should be focusing on making sure that we expand health care in Texas so that people can take care of their medical bills. I mean, medical debt is one of the biggest amounts of debt that people have, and we can do something to actually improve people's lives. So as attorney general, I would ensure that we are focusing on the things that are going to improve Texans lives instead of going into these wedge issues and distracting from the things that we really need to accomplish for Texans."
You can watch full interviews with both candidates below:
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: