Austin DSA Statement on the Election of José Garza, Travis County District Attorney
DSA member José Garza’s decisive victory in today’s run-off election against incumbent Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore is a victory for the working class and for the socialist movement. Incumbent Democrat Margaret Moore has been an exceptionally bad district attorney. Moore has shown callous disregard for the victims of police terror in Austin, egregiously mishandled prosecution of sexual assault cases, and pursued racist drug enforcement policies that target people of color. DSA Member José Garza is a former public defender and current director of Workers Defense Project who will use his position to end cash bail, end prosecution of drug offenses, and hold killer cops accountable.
Garza’s victory was won by the broad working class coalition that has cohered around demands to defund the police and radically transform our criminal justice system. His movement campaign won endorsements from national figures like Senator Bernie Sanders, local unions, including Education Austin, the Austin Firefighters Association, IBEW Local 520, organizations ranging from Austin DSA to Workers Defense Project, and local leaders such as criminal justice advocate Chris Harris and Council Member Greg Casar.
We congratulate the Workers Defense Project on the victory of a second elected official to come up through their ranks, after Austin City Councilmember Greg Casar’s win in 2016. In a state with 4% union density, where exploitative bosses use the high population of undocumented workers to cut through worker solidarity and steal with impunity from a vulnerable workforce, the Workers Defense Project has built real worker power, especially among the immigrant community. To build the world that we all deserve, we have to organize as a class and keep building independent political power. Austin DSA is committed to building and supporting this growing, working class movement.
As democratic socialists, we recognize that the fight for criminal justice is part of the fight against neoliberal austerity, and the battles for universal demands like Medicare for All and a Green New Deal that will transform our society by empowering the working class. The only way workers can win the policies we deserve is through the self-organization of the multiracial working class, whether in the workplace, the streets, or at the ballot box. Jose Garza’s victory is a milestone in our struggle, and we look forward to fighting alongside our allies in the fight ahead.
