State Rep. Matt Krause announces for Tarrant County district attorney
Fort Worth Rep. Matt Krause is running for Tarrant County district attorney after previously announcing his candidacy for Texas attorney general.
Krause, who has served in the Texas House of Representatives since 2013, announced in September his plans to challenge Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in what is expected to be a crowded Republican primary.
Krause said Tuesday he heard from people in Tarrant County asking him to consider a DA bid following Republican Sharen Wilson’s decision to not run for another term.
Krause had previously told the Star-Telegram he remained focused on the attorney general race amid speculation of a district attorney run. After talking with his family and campaign team, Krause opted for the local race.
“The more we talked about it, the more we saw there was a lot of possibility and opportunity in Tarrant County DA’s office to do a lot of things we were looking at, at the Texas Attorney General’s Office for Texas but doing it in Tarrant County,” he said.
Krause joins two other Republican candidates who have filed: former Tarrant County District Court Judge Mollee Westfall, who resigned after announcing her candidacy on Nov. 17, and former County Criminal Court Judge Phil Sorrells.
Westfall is also a former Tarrant County prosecutor.
“In a time where law enforcement is under attack and even being defunded in many places, I have spent less money operating my court while handling more cases,” Westfall said in statement. “I have been a conservative judge in every sense of the word.”
Sorrells held his post for 25 years before resigning to run.
“The people of Tarrant County deserve a District Attorney who has the background, qualifications, and experience to faithfully execute the duties and responsibilities of the office. We need a leader the career prosecutors in the office will follow,” he said in a statement. “We need a leader who, serving as the chief law enforcement officer in the county, will inspire and support those who are sworn to serve and protect. We need a leader who will hold them to the highest standards and will back them when they do their best.”
Krause is expected to officially file after Thanksgiving. Candidate filing closes Dec. 13.
Democrats Tiffany Burks, the former deputy chief of the criminal division in the DA’s office, and attorney Albert John Roberts, who ran for district attorney in 2018, have also announced campaigns for the top prosecutor role.
“This will be a tough race, but I am ready,” Burks said in a September Facebook post.
In announcing his run, Roberts called for a criminal legal system that is ”just and fair for everybody.”
“We must re-envision what justice looks like in Tarrant County rather than maintain the status quo,” Roberts said in a statement. “You can’t restore faith in a system that was never trusted to begin with.”
Krause works as a vice president for Vista Bank and got his law degree from Liberty University. He’s a member of the House Criminal Justice Reform Caucus and the Texas Freedom Caucus., and serves on the Culture, Recreation and Tourism committee, the Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence committee, and as chairman of the General Investigating committee.
He has gotten attention in recent weeks for his request for information about more than 800 books that may be on public school library and classroom shelves. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently called on education officials to investigate “criminal activity” related to assertions pornography in public schools.
“I do think that it is part of the DA’s responsibility to ensure that there’s not inappropriate materials in schools that rises to a level that could be criminally prosecuted,” Krause said. “If there is inappropriate material, especially for minors, I think that it’s definitely something that the DA’s office should look into and act upon if necessary.”
Krause’s DA run comes after U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert announced he’d run for attorney general as a Republican. Krause plan’s to support Gohmert in his bid. Gohmert entering the race factored into Krause’s decision but wasn’t the deciding factor, he said.
“Had he gotten in before we did, we wouldn’t have even gotten into the race,” Krause said.
Gohmert, who filed an unsuccessful lawsuit calling on former Vice President Mike Pence to challenge the 2020 election results, joins Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush and former Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman in challenging Paxton in the Republican primary. Democrats who’ve said they are running include civil rights lawyer Lee Merrit, Galveston lawyer Joe Jaworski, former ACLU lawyer Rochelle Garza and Houston attorney Mike Fields, who previously represented the Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 14 as a Republican.
This story was originally published November 22, 2021 at 10:20 PM.
