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Dallas County DA known for exposing wrongful convictions loses to GOP challenger

ABA file photo of Craig Watkins by ©Kathy Anderson 2012.

A district attorney who was in the national spotlight for freeing more than 30 inmates said to be wrongfully convicted has lost his re-election bid.

Dallas County District Attorney District Attorney Craig Watkins lost in Tuesday’s elections to his Republican challenger, Susan Hawk, report the Dallas Morning News, the Associated Press and NBCDFW.com.

Hawk was formerly a Democrat and a Watkins ally, the Dallas Morning News says. Hawk had been a judge but opted to run for DA rather than re-election after a prosecutor in Watkins’ office announced she was running for Hawk’s seat. The prosecutor’s bid for Hawk’s job was made possible when Watkins changed an office policy that had required prosecutors to resign before running for public office.

According to the Dallas Morning News, Watkins started out well as he achieved claim for his wrongful convictions unit. “But just when his political stock was rising,” the story says, “Watkins embroiled himself in a series of incidents that questioned his ethics and the way he used his power. They included his reluctance to investigate two Dallas County constables accused of misdeeds and his recent handling of forfeiture funds under his control. In one incident, he used forfeiture funds to settle a 2013 accident he caused on Dallas North Tollway without informing county officials.”

In his concession speech, Watkins said he hoped Hawk continued the work he started in the office, according to NBCDFW.com. “I got to be a change agent for eight years. And so I’m blessed for that,” Watkins said. “So I’m going to move forward and do something different and continue to make this country better in a different capacity.”