Harris County DA's race features incumbent Kim Ogg versus former deputy Sean Teare

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- Kim Ogg is seeking a third term as Harris County District Attorney, but it won't come easy.

"I've noticed that my opponent is running against me," Ogg said, "and I think what the public needs to know is that I'm running for them. I'm a solutions person."

That opponent is Sean Teare, a former top deputy who says he can fix what he calls low morale in an office mired in politics.

"I want to be able to remove a lot of the politics from this office," Teare said. "The job of this office, while it is political to get there, it can't be political when you're in that seat because you're taking an oath to see that justice is done in every case."

Ogg refutes the accusations of low morale. She says she has modernized the DA's office.

"So after the first seven years of really cleaning up the system and trying to reform the low end of nonviolent offenders and what their options are," Ogg said. "It's been high time to crack down on the violent criminals, and our courts are finally back in trial, and that's where we shine."

But Ogg has been at odds with those within her own party. She often clashed with Judge Lina Hidalgo over funding and staffing, and her office sought indictments against three of Hidalgo's top staffers over concerns about the legality of a lucrative COVID outreach contract. On the other hand, Teare earned Hidalgo's endorsement-raising questions about how he would handle the ongoing cases against Hidalgo's former team.

"We are going to recuse ourselves on the first day," Teare said, "and we're gonna send it to one of our contiguous counties to have an unbiased set of eyes, look at that case, and make a determination as to whether it should go forward, and if so, what the proper outcome is."

Both say the public can trust them to do the right thing and put the law above politics.

"The community as a whole is (going to) be able to trust the DA's office," Teare said. "They're (going to) be able to trust that we are following our oath, that we're gonna do the right thing in every case."

"We're simply doing our job," Ogg said. "And I think it's important that the public have faith that that job is handled in a nonpartisan way."

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