Awaiting final votes, KU professor expected to unseat longtime Douglas County DA
With nearly all the election results in Tuesday night, a University of Kansas law professor had a commanding lead in the Douglas County District Attorney race.
Suzanne Valdez appeared poised to win the district attorney’s office she had recently criticized for charging one of her students with falsely reporting a rape — a charge prosecutors later dropped under public scrutiny and reporting from The Star.
As of 9:45 p.m. Tuesday, Valdez held 39.75% of the vote in the Democratic primary for Douglas County District Attorney.
The incumbent, Charles Branson, and defense attorney Cooper Overstreet each trailed at least seven points behind her. Overstreet had gained 32.68% of the vote while Branson held 27.57%. 97 of 100 precincts had been counted.
The winner of the primary will likely be the county’s next top prosecutor. No Republicans are running for the seat.
Valdez, a law professor and special prosecutor in Wyandotte County, could unseat Branson, who has held the office for sixteen years. He ran uncontested in three consecutive elections.
In an email to The Star Wednesday, Valdez said she is optimistic as she awaits final election results and grateful to those who supported her campaign.
“I look forward to serving all the people in my county in this new role, and I promise to work hard to restore public trust and confidence in the DA’s office,” Valdez said. “There’s much work to be done on local criminal justice reform! I plan to get started right away listening to the concerns and ideas of my community so that together we can create pragmatic solutions while maintaining community safety.”
Branson called Valdez Wednesday morning to congratulate her and wish her luck, he said in an email.
“I remain very proud of the men and woman of this office,” Branson said. “They have worked tirelessly for the last 15 years making Douglas County safe and helping implement new and innovative programs that will serve this community for years to come.”
Speaking to The Star at the start of her campaign, Valdez said Branson’s office had become complacent and was “asleep at the wheel.” Valdez said the charge against her student angered her and pushed her towards running.
Though the charges against her student were ultimately dropped, Valdez criticized Branson’s ability to sensitively handle cases of sexual assault.
She said Branson’s work to update training on handling sexual assault cases this year was too little, too late.
In addition to facing criticism over his handling of sexual assault cases, Branson has been questioned about his choice to pursue a second murder trial against Rontarus Washington.
After five years in jail, Washington’s first trial ended with a hung jury last year.
Valdez has said she would consider the evidence in the case before making a decision about seeking another trial.
Another candidate in the race, defense attorney Overstreet, has said he would try to have Washington’s case dismissed.
Valdez has said she hopes to create systemic and cultural changes in the office. She said she would seek to change Douglas County’s diversion program and reduce the local jail population.
She and others have pointed to Branson’s choice to employ Amy McGowan as an example of problems in his office. McGowan has faced allegations of misconduct in Kansas and Missouri. She retired last year.
This story was originally published August 4, 2020 at 10:39 PM.
