The Houston GLBT Political Caucus on Saturday endorsed Harris County district attorney candidate Audia Jones, a rebuke of incumbent DA Kim Ogg, who is openly lesbian and won the caucus’ endorsement last cycle.

Caucus members voted 121-95 in favor of Jones, a Democratic Socialist who is pledging to make a vigorous push for criminal justice reform policies. She argues that Ogg, who was elected in 2016, has insufficiently championed such reforms.

The vote came after a contentious debate among members and the 13 people on a screening committee that vetted the candidates. Eleven screeners recommended Jones, with some describing an antagonistic meeting with Ogg.

Speaking to the caucus Saturday, Ogg defended her record as DA, arguing that she has started criminal diversion programs for nonviolent offenders while working “with 87 law enforcement agencies, leading 800 employees, to protect you and this community.”

“There’s a balance as the DA, and I represent that balance,” Ogg said. “My record shows it. I’ve made difficult decisions to exonerate people against perhaps the police union’s recommendation, and I have stood for crime victims and the LGBT community.”

Ogg spoke minutes after Jones, who criticized the incumbent for asking commissioners court for more prosecutors in her office. Jones also contended that Ogg has not done enough to root out policies that are “disproportionately targeting our communities of color.”

“In 2016, we got nothing but promises, and in 2020, we are standing here with nothing but failures from our current district attorney, who stated that she was going to support cash bail reform when in fact she was the only Democrat that opposed it,” Jones said.

Democrat Carvana Cloud, the former chief of the special victims' bureau under Ogg, argued that her experience would help her enact criminal justice reform more effectively than Jones.

“When you understand reform principles, you can take those reform principles and you can apply them to every practice to make sure you have true criminal justice reform,” she said.

Last month, Jones picked up an endorsement from the Texas Organizing Project, a progressive advocacy group that backed Ogg in 2016.

Ogg, meanwhile, is endorsed by the Victory Fund, a national political organization that supports gay, lesbian and transgender candidates. The group’s president, former Houston mayor Annise Parker, attended the caucus meeting Saturday and voted for Ogg.

In an interview, Parker said "the far left, which is what was represented largely in the room today, and the far right are opposing (Ogg) because she has chosen over and over again to do what she thinks is right."

Parker, a former caucus president, argued that Jones' supporters want Ogg to "stop prosecuting certain crimes," but "she swore an oath to the Constitution and the laws of the state of Texas, and she will use her discretion to the best of her ability. But she's not going to arbitrarily not enforce laws."

"It's a combination of the changing of the guard, and that Kim is doing exactly what you would want from a DA, and that is going forward where she sees fit and not catering to either side," said Parker, who was Houston’s first openly gay mayor.

GLBT Caucus President Mike Webb shot back at Parker on Twitter, writing, "We are at a point in our history where we need leaders that fight for the ENTIRE LGBTQ+ community, particularly advocating for our queer communities of color."

Todd Overstreet, another Democratic candidate, did not attend the caucus meeting. Three Republicans also are running for DA: Mary Nan Huffman, a former Montgomery County prosecutor and current legal counsel to the Houston Police Officers Union; Lori DeAngelo, who was a Harris County prosecutor for more than 20 years, including in Ogg’s office; and Wayne Lloyd Oliver, a defense lawyer who has run unsuccessfully for several offices as a candidate for both major parties, primarily as a way to advertise for his legal practice.