Pretty comprehensive and worth the read.
Eight Democrats will battle it out in the March primaries for a chance to succeed Harris County District Clerk Marilyn Burgess, who announced in September she would not be seeking reelection. Whoever gets a majority of the vote will face off against the lone Republican candidate and presumptive nominee in the November election.
The district clerk is an administrative position primarily tasked with record-keeping operations for the county’s 67 district courts. Among the clerk’s responsibilities are managing court filings and motions, collecting court fees and fines, and ensuring judicial transparency and public access to court proceedings.
The Houston Chronicle provided each candidate with identical questionnaires. Candidates were asked why they were running, what their first-year priorities were and, considering the district clerk’s role as custodian of court records, what steps they would take to improve access to information.
There’s too much to summarize and that’s a gift link, so go read the rest. All of the candidates came across pretty well, which is a bit of a surprise given the size of the Democratic field; there’s usually a non-serious entrant or two in a contest like that. I did not do interviews with District Clerk candidates this year because there are so many of them, there’s not much time, and there are only so many interesting questions one can ask. I do plan to interview the two runoff contestants.
Outgoing Clerk Marilyn Burgess had some things to say about her experience on the way out, endorsing candidate current special projects administrator for the District Cler’s office Angellia Dozier along the way. That’s also a gift link and you can read it for yourself, I don’t know enough to evaluate her allegations. I will note that while she was critical of contributions to two candidates made by County Commissioners, one of them is a staffer of the Commissioner in question, and as noted Burgess endorsed her own staffer, so, you know. I would prefer a little less drama next year.