The Press Club of Southeast Texas hosted the Jefferson County Candidate Debate, Oct. 13, at the Betty Greenberg Center for the Performing Arts. Candidates for five races debated in front of a nearly-filled theater, campaigning for their platforms for the upcoming midterm election.
State Board of Education District 7
The first race highlighted was for the State Board of Education District 7. Republican incumbent Julie Pickren was not in attendance, so Democratic candidate Tiffany Perkinz participated in a moderated question-and-answer session.
“I have taught public and private school,” Perkinz said. “I am running to put educators back in charge of education. For so long, we have seen decisions being made at the government level of how students should learn and how teachers should teach, and those decisions are being made by people with no background in education and no boots-on-the-ground classroom experience. It is time we change that.”
Criminal District Judge
Following Perkinz, candidates for criminal district judge debated about the backlog of felony cases and the court’s broadcasts on YouTube.
“There are 60 cases in the Criminal District Court that are over 1,000 days old, awaiting trial,” Luke Nichols, Republican candidate, said. “What I plan to do is attack it, bring the lessons I’ve learned in the courthouse and what I’ve done as a prosecutor to help move cases efficiently while respecting the constitutional rights of those accused.”
Democratic candidate and current judge John Stevens challenged Nichols position.
“I just finished my 622nd felony jury trial,” Stevens said. “We will certainly make sure that this backlog, which exists in every jurisdiction, stays pretty much equal with the other court because we’re both working hard.”
Jefferson County Clerk
The next candidates to take the stage were Republican incumbent Roxanne Acosta-Hellberg and Democratic candidate Carolyn Guidry, running for Jefferson County Clerk, with debate about equal representation in poll staffing being a point of contention.
Both candidates also discussed accessibility regarding voting and documentation at the clerk’s office.
Treasurer
Candidates for County Treasurer followed, with Republican incumbent Tim Funchess debating Democratic candidate Michael Cooper.
Funchess said the county has made $33 million by investing funds during his term and that he reports the investments to Commissioners Court monthly.
Cooper said he planned to not only invest money wisely, but also to inform residents about the investments.
Justice of the Peace Precinct 1 Place 2
The last debate of the night featured the candidates for justice of the peace, Precinct 1, Place 2. A point of contention was handling cases regarding truancy.
“We notify the parents, go to court, and we find out from the parents, the school and the child what the issue is,” Democratic incumbent Ben Collins said.
Republican candidate Joe Evans said people often mix up truancy and criminal negligence by a parent, and that the JP court handles the latter.
“Truancy is addressed on the district level,” Evans said. “What the JP court addresses is criminal negligence by a parent, meaning that a parent did not do what was supposed to be done to get the child to school.”
Aaron Barnhill, Press Club of Southeast Texas president, said the turnout was great and that the organization plans to hold debates for future elections.
Early voting for the midterm election continues until Oct. 30, and Election Day is Nov. 3.