Unless you live in HD139, this is the most consequential runoff on the Democratic ballot.
Ed Gonzalez
[Ed] Gonzalez has drawn heavy support from the Democratic establishment, including former Mayor Annise Parker, state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, and the Harris County chapter of the Texas Coalition of Black Democrats. [Jerome] Moore’s supporters include the Houston COGIC political action committee, which supports candidates who share its values.
Both Gonzalez and Moore have called for greater transparency at the sheriff’s office and pledged to personally, regularly, inspect the department’s jail, which has come under repeated scrutiny in recent months. A Houston Chronicle investigation of the jail found extensive problems ranging from patterns of use of force by guards to poor medical care for inmates.
Gonzalez, 47, touts his 15 years as a Houston police officer and his work on the Houston City Council, where he chaired the Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee.
“I’m think I’m uniquely qualified to be the next sheriff,” Gonzalez said. “I’m the only one with combined law enforcement experience … and I have the proven leadership skills.”
Gonzalez has argued for more oversight in the jail as well as broader education and training programs for inmates to help lower the number of repeat offenders.
[…]
Moore, 42, who worked as a deputy for the Harris County Precinct 5 Constable’s Office for 16 years and previously for the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office, said he wants to take “more than 600 crooks” off the streets and touts the supervisory experience he gained as a lieutenant at Precinct 5.
Like Gonzalez, he called management of the county jail as a top priority for the next sheriff, as well as taking a more community focused approach to policing.
“Too many people are dying in that jail,” he said, citing the recent case of a man beaten to death while in jail on a minor theft charge. “We’ve got to do better in the jail … Right now, we don’t have accountability in that jail.”
My interview with Ed Gonzalez is here and with Jerome Moore is here. To the extent that endorsements affect one’s decision about whom to support in a race, I would point out the COGIC PAC’s endorsements from the 2015 elections. Whether one believes that this is going to be a great year for Democrats in Harris County or another Presidential cycle where the base vote is evenly split and the quality of individual candidates is the difference-maker, the winner of this runoff has an excellent chance to be the next Sheriff. Let’s make a good choice.