Bar poll favors Moore, Hernandez, Eiserloh, Denton

More than 53 percent of lawyers participating in a poll of Austin Bar Association members and the Austin Criminal Defense Lawyers Association said they preferred District Attorney Margaret Moore to her rivals. According to the poll, which was released Friday, about 14 percent of respondents said they would vote for José Garza, while just over 8 percent indicated a preference for Erin Martinson. Martin Harry, the only Republican in the race, received 5.7 percent of the vote, but nearly 19 percent of the poll’s respondents did not indicate a preference in this race. As for the county attorney’s race, 30.5 percent indicated a preference for Assistant County Attorney Laurie Eiserloh and more than 26 percent said they favored former Judge Mike Denton. Mayor Pro Tem Delia Garza got a little over 15 percent and the least well-known candidate, Dominic Selvera, got 1 percent. Nearly 27 percent of those responding did not answer the question. Sheriff Sally Hernandez got more than 58 percent of the bar vote in her bid for reelection. Her Democratic rivals, Liz Donegan and John Loughran, got just under 5 percent of the vote and 2.6 percent, respectively. The only Republican running for the sheriff’s job, Raul Vargas, got about 9 percent of the vote. Twenty-five percent of those participating expressed no preference in this race. Judges garnering more than 80 percent of the vote included District Judge Tim Sulak and District Judge Julie Kocurek.