Sean Teare, a former prosecutor whose proposed reforms won over stakeholders across the criminal justice system, has won the race to become Harris County’s next district attorney, voting results show.
Teare, a Democrat, eked out a narrow victory of just 1.6 percentage points over Dan Simons, a Republican. The race was unexpectedly close, with Simons running closely behind Teare throughout the night. Ultimately, with just under 1.5 million votes cast, about 37,000 made the difference.
“I’m ecstatic to get to work,” Teare said Wednesday morning. “The opening margins of early votes were closer than anyone expected, but by the time we saw the first polling places come out, my team and people I trust implicitly about this were very confident.”
Simons could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday morning.
As district attorney, Teare will oversee criminal prosecutions in Harris County’s felony, misdemeanor and juvenile courts for a term of four years starting in January. Tuesday’s success follows his overwhelming victory in March’s Democratic primary, when Teare defeated incumbent Kim Ogg by more than 50 percentage points.
Ogg first won office in 2016 on a progressive platform but later came under fire from within her own party after she reversed course on key issues like bail reform. Her troubled tenure leaves Teare facing steep challenges, including an office staffed by burned-out prosecutors, a deadly county jail and fractured relationships with key criminal justice stakeholders, including Harris County Commissioners Court.
Yet community members are hopeful that a fresh start will restore some of those relationships, ease lethal overcrowding at the Harris County Jail and ensure the equal distribution of justice to all caught up in the criminal system — victims and defendants alike.
Teare’s detailed policy solutions to some of Harris County’s most pressing criminal justice problems seem to have won over voters eager for change. He has promised to reform the district attorney’s heavily criticized intake division, which decides whether to accept criminal charges after law enforcement officers make an arrest, and restore the relationships with government officials and community members that splintered under Ogg, among other initiatives.
Yet Teare’s thin margin of victory suggests that Simons’ message, which blasted local government as “out of touch with reality” on public safety issues, resonated more with voters than expected. In his campaign, Simons promised to lobby for more money for the district attorney’s office, previously a source of conflict between Ogg and Commissioners Court. He also said he would investigate government corruption and expressed frustration with a “failed bond system” that he said has released “violent offenders” onto the streets.
In an interview Wednesday morning, Teare acknowledged the concerns of Simons’ voters.
“I am going to be the DA for everyone,” he said. “Safer streets and better outcomes for victims and survivors are what I’m all about. We’re going to protect everyone… My message to them is we’re all going to be okay.”
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