HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — Days after Harris County Judge Linda Hidalgo accused current District Attorney Kim Ogg of using dirty politics to investigate her office, Hidalgo is supporting an ex-prosecutor challenging Ogg.
On Monday, Hidalgo explained why Sean Teare should take over the job.
Hidalgo said years of issues are why she’s supporting Ogg’s opponent in the race for district attorney. Some political experts said it's rare to see a spat like this spill over into the public eye.
At the El Dorado Ballroom in Third Ward, Hidalgo, without naming Ogg, said the DA's office “has been torn down to a shadow of what it once was.”
Hidalgo accused Ogg of “not working in good faith” with the judge or county commissioners.
“She’s spending her time on a political vendetta, she’s not spending it making the office work, Mr. Teare by contrast has the experience and is comfortable making those tough choices,” Hidalgo said.
RELATED: Harris County judge calls Texas Ranger investigation into her office 'dirty politics' by DA Kim Ogg
She’s endorsing Teare, a former prosecutor taking on his old boss.
The district attorney and Texas Rangers are currently investigating three of Hidalgo’s former staff members.
If the case was ongoing if Teare takes office, he said he’d review the case.
“We’re going to make a decision based on facts. We’re going to look at all the evidence, without emotion, without anything else, we are going to look at each of them,” Teare said.
Warrants related to the investigation were released on Thursday when Hidalgo said she was speaking with Teare about the endorsement.
“As someone inside that office for six and a half years, the coincidence in timing is no coincidence,” Teare said.
Bob Stein, a political science professor at Rice University said Hidalgo and Ogg have been at odds before over issues like bail reform and the DA's budget.
“Remember the very first day (Ogg) took office, she adamantly maintained she didn’t have an adequate budget. And the commissioner's court led by the judge said, you got more than enough money to do what we think needs to be done. And I think it didn't start off well, and it hasn't ended well,” Stein said.
It’s now a fight that Teare said he’s prepared for.
“We’ve got the group in place to do it, I think we’ve got momentum, I’ve got the support of most of the leaders of the Democratic Party of this county,” Teare said.
We reached out to Kim Ogg’s campaign but they only referred to the statement released on Friday:
“County Judge Hidalgo’s outburst today was nothing more than an attempted deflection from the facts and evidence that led to the initial indictment of her staffers. She conflated an ongoing Texas Rangers criminal investigation with her political endorsement of my challenger and engaged in a childish exercise in name-calling that has become all too common in our political process. Using her status as county judge to launch this diatribe is an unfortunate attempt to taint the investigative process and to confuse the public. It also serves her indicted staffers very poorly. My office pursues evidence-based prosecutions, regardless of political party, and we look forward to resolving this case in court.”