Ex-McLennan DA switches to Democratic party for judge race

Johnson switched parties Monday and registered to run against West in the 19th Court race as a Democrat. West, a Republican who has held the post since 2021, rebutted Johnson’s statements and placed the blame for the large backlog of pending criminal cases at the courthouse square on the former DA’s shoulders. The two will face off in the Nov. 5 general election next fall. Johnson and West are unopposed for their respective parties’ March 5 primary elections.

Johnson, 67, said his decision to switch parties instead of challenging West in the March primary is based around his belief that there is no room for a “moderate Republican” like himself in the current landscape of the GOP. He said he was honored to work as a Republican during his time as DA, but said change was necessary given the events of the past eight to 10 years.

“It became apparent to me that it was time to change,” Johnson said. “I’ve been a Republican for some of my adult years. I’ve also been a Democrat for some of my adult years, so I’m glad to change that label and I’m grateful that I had this opportunity with the McLennan County Democratic Party to be a moderate and be included.”

As for his decision to run for judge of the 19th Court, Johnson said he felt the office should be held by “the right people with the right temperament” who respect the history of the court, which he said he believes West is not achieving.

“The main thing that I looked at is my experience in the last two years in the district attorney’s office,” Johnson said. “And what I observed from afar is the way people are treated in that court. Your job is to preside over cases, move the docket and treat people fairly and with judicial courtesy. And that is far from being done.”

West said Tuesday in his nearly three years as judge of the 19th, he has moved through 71 jury trials, held over 1,500 hearings and disposed of over 5,000 pending criminal cases, saving McLennan County taxpayers money as he emptied the jail of people waiting years for a trial. Comparing himself to Johnson, West said he has much more experience in criminal law, having been a prosecutor for 10 years and a defense attorney for 20.

“I’m the only candidate that is board certified in criminal law,” West said. “He has very little criminal law experience. He’s never practiced criminal law. He doesn’t know the rules. He doesn’t know the procedure. He don’t know the crimes and all of the rules that go along with handling criminal cases.”

West rebutted Johnson’s assertion that he does not treat people fairly and does not respect the history of the court.

“Just because his father was a judge doesn’t mean he respects the system,” West said. “He’s a person who came in with civil experience, somehow was elected district attorney. And when the voters voted him out, he left thousands of cases unscreened in the DA’s office.”

“You respect the system,” West said. “You do your job. You don’t leave it halfway done.”

Johnson was born and raised in Waco, and said he helped his father, Joe Johnson, with his campaigns when he ran for justice of the peace and later judge of Waco’s 170th State District Court. Johnson later moved to Dallas, where he became a personal injury lawyer and tried a number of cases before moving back to Waco in 2017 to run for district attorney.

He defeated two-term incumbent DA Abel Reyna 60% to 40% in the March 2018 primary and became DA in 2019 after Democratic candidate Seth Sutton withdrew from the race before the election, leaving the race uncontested. When coming into office, Johnson said he was faced with a large case backlog, possibly caused by the large number of defendants in the docket for Twin Peaks biker shootout case. The only trial held in the case ended in a mistrial, and Johnson dismissed the pending cases that remained shortly after he took office.

Johnson said he began to move cases along during his first 14 months as DA before the COVID-19 pandemic completely shut down the courthouse and slowed progress on criminal cases to a crawl. Johnson said the pandemic created an even bigger backlog as crime continued without a courthouse to properly try cases.

West, however, said Johnson did not require prosecutors to work during the pandemic, which allowed cases to pile up. He also said more than two dozen lawyers left the DA’s office during Johnson’s term. West also said that when he took office on Jan. 1, 2021, he immediately began working and held hearings the next day.

“We’ve been open every day since, during COVID and all of it,” West said. “The prosecutors were there. Productivity starts at the top.”

In March 2022, Johnson was defeated 70% to 30% in the Republican primary by current DA Josh Tetens, who would go on in November to defeat Democratic nominee Aubrey Robertson, a prosecutor who Johnson had hired the previous summer to serve as first assistant DA then fired a little over a week later.

Johnson said since leaving office, he has remained in Waco and has tried a few cases here and there while also enjoying some time off spent golfing and fishing. He said he had a difficult decision to make regarding reentering politics, one he ultimately decided to make in order to not leave the race for judge of the 19th uncontested.

On being able to sway voters into changing their allegiance from the Republican party in the solidly red McLennan County, Johnson said he is confident he can draw the support of many moderates in the county. While he had little criminal law experience before becoming DA, Johnson said “cases are cases” and in many instances, personal injury lawsuits can be even more complicated than criminal cases.

“You can make the argument that personal injury cases are more complicated than criminal cases,” Johnson said. “A lawsuit is a lawsuit. You dig in and learn the law and stay a student of the law and try those cases in the same manner as civil cases.”

The last day to register to vote in time for the primaries is Feb. 5. Early voting will start Feb. 20.