Lehmberg Wins D.A. Race

Lehmberg at her e-night celebration

"The district attorney is a woman," Mindy Montford told the crowd of supporters assembled at her campaign headquarters Tuesday night, "how cool is that?"

Indeed, the run-off race to replace outgoing 30-year Travis Co. District Attorney Ronnie Earle featured two female contenders, both assistant D.A.'s: 37-year-old whip-smart Montford, and the office's seasoned First Assistant D.A. Rosemary Lehmberg, 58. At the end of the night, Lehmberg had won the golden ticket, snagging 65% of the vote. With no Republican or Libertarian candidate in the race, Lehmberg is the presumptive victor – and first female to become Travis Co. D.A.

Still, the mood at Montford HQ was celebratory (among her E-night supporters were Austin Police Monitor Cliff Brown, firefighters union prez Stephen Truesdell, former D.A. candidate Rick Reed, and Montford's ex, City Council member Brewster McCracken). Montford said she was proud to have run a "positive" campaign, and said she believed that Lehmberg would take to heart many of "issues" raised during the race. "I think there are good things we can do in that office," she said.

Down at Joe's Bar and Grill, Lehmberg celebrated with her crew (a host of D.A. staffers, boss Earle, former D.A. candidate Gary Cobb, and a gaggle of other county politicos – including former Co. Attorney Ken Oden), and reflected that she had, indeed, learned quite a bit during the campaign. It was quite "clarifying," she said, to get community feedback – including the criticisms. "I heard people," she said. "I certainly didn't always agree with what was said," but Lehmberg said that she would take everything into consideration as she plans for the future. "Mostly what I think is that the people of Austin want a district attorney that fits and shares Austin values," she said. "And I think that's what has happened."