Viewpoint: In D.A. race, Rose knows best

The four candidates who ran for Travis County District Attorney were lucky to see record-breaking turnout in the presidential primary election, and they all garnered significant percentages of the vote. But now that the Clinton-Obama frenzy has died down, the biggest hurdle in the run-off between Rosemary Lehmberg and Mindy Montford is getting voters to the polls again. With only two days left of early voting, it's urgent that you have a say in this race - especially if you were one of the nearly 47,000 voters who ticked the box for Rick Reed or Gary Cobb.

For Lehmberg, whose friends call her Rose, this has to have been a stressful race. She's the most logical successor to Ronnie Earle - who has held the seat since 1977 - but faces the possibility of 37-year-old Montford swooping in and taking the reigns. Working in the D.A.'s office for more than 30 years, Lehmberg has risen through the ranks to become Earle's first assistant. Earle was quick to hand her his endorsement upon announcing his decision to not seek re-election. Just looking at the obvious - Lehmberg's experience and the positive legacy Earle has left with her at his side - it's almost surprising that Montford has managed to stay on her tail.

But Montford has distinguished herself as a candidate who can bring modernization, innovation and change to the office, concepts that become appealing when thinking about an office that's essentially been running in the same fashion since the 1970s. She's an energetic go-getter who's been busting tail in the courts, while Lehmberg saw more of her trial days in the 1980s. Montford says that, if elected, she looks forward to spending time in the courtroom, whether working on cases or simply showing face to jurors and thanking them for their service. She says she wants to hold regular meetings with media, law enforsement and legislators, and seems to have public outreach down to an art. More importantly, she possesses a positive energy that would be essential in maintaining motivation and optimism in an office of more than 84 attorneys who work on some of the toughest cases known to law.

But there's no need to fix what's not broken, and the District Attorney's office is in more need of continuity than change. Lehmberg has put in her time and is familiar with every department of the office. Whereas Montford sees need to "modernize" the office with an Internet Crimes Unit and urge legislators to "update" their books to cover legal issues related to new technology, Lehmberg says it's more practical to save resources by building on and improving systems that are already in place and proven successful. For example, she pledges to expand and streamline drug courts, which will free jail space through easing overzealous prosecution of non-violent drug offenders (which make up a third of the D.A.'s docket).

Lehmberg is the candidate who knows and understands the job ahead of her, but tucked away working diligently in the D.A.'s office for the past 30 years, running a political campaign has surely been a newfound challenge. Not to mention that she's spent years on the side of regulating campaign finance, but has now been forced to learn the art of fundraising in order to, essentially, keep her job. Aside from controversy surrounding the sources of the two candidates' campaign contributions (and our thoughts concerning the hypocrisy of how this particular race is funded), Montford raised at least $200,000 more than Lehmberg, making this battle even harder for her.

After this race is said and done on April 8, there's still a big job to do in the District Attorney's office, and Lehmberg is who we'd like to see tackle it. She will return to her staff and continue on the positive path she left off on. She must keep in mind, however, that the majority of voters in the primary saw qualities in her opponents that they saw fit to benefit the office. Likewise, Montford hasn't gotten this far on money alone. Her ideas - including working constructively with law enforcement, getting prosecutors on crime scenes and bringing laws up to date ­- have a place in the D.A.'s office. This race has been a battle among peers, but we hope for a quick and fair truce so these qualified individuals can quit being politicians and refocus their energy where it matters most: on the judicial system.

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