The Chron gives a ringing endorsement to Kim Ogg for District Attorney, but not before delivering a stern rebuke to incumbent DA Devon Anderson.
Kim Ogg
Harris County cannot take four more years of a prosecutor’s office that pursues convictions at any cost. It is a mentality that risks putting the innocent behind bars while the real criminals run free.
The incumbent’s mistakes, scandals and politicking have wasted taxpayer dollars and undermined public trust in our criminal justice system.
Anderson, a Republican, has rolled out reforms when it was a political imperative – and we’ve praised her when it was earned. But each improvement she’s pursued, from reducing marijuana prosecutions to targeting our broken bail system, was just a watered-down alternative to policies advocated by 2014 Democratic challenger Kim Ogg.
There is no reason for voters to be content with a diet version of much-needed reform when we can go with the real thing. It is time to elect Kim Ogg as district attorney.
It was hard to pick a section to excerpt – there’s so much there. I’ve noted the same thing about Anderson’s reform proposals – they’re good, but they’re not as good as what Ogg had proposed weeks or months before. The DA’s office feels like it’s been in a constant state of turmoil since the latter days of Chuck Rosenthal. From his bizarre antics to the internecine wars of the Pat Lykos days to the frequent scandals of Devon Anderson’s term, it’s been a nonstop barrage of news, most of it bad. It’s hard to imagine a stronger case for change. Kim Ogg will definitely have her work cut out for her, but she knows what needs to be done and she will have a mandate to do it. I really hope this is the year for her.