Republican district attorney candidate Susan Hawk on Tuesday suggested that Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins had been drinking before a public forum on crimes against women and children.
Her comment came after a debate-style event in which Watkins, who is seeking his third term, complained of unfair time limits, occasionally would not sit down when the moderator told him time had expired and at one point asked a top aide how long he’d been in office.
As they left the event, Hawk muttered to her Democratic opponent, “Have another cocktail.”
Watkins later said he hadn’t been drinking before the event. He called Hawk a desperate politician with “no substance” and accused her of trying to make up for a lackluster debate performance.
Several hours after the forum, Hawk’s campaign released a statement: “That was a silly comment that was not meant to be taken seriously. I hope our DA understands that.”
The candidates’ rare joint appearance quickly morphed into the most heated episode yet in what’s becoming an increasingly hostile campaign.
The district attorney battle is the marquee race on the Dallas County ballot in November. Watkins was re-elected in 2010 by slightly more than 5,000 votes. Republicans hope Hawk, a former state district judge, can unseat him in what’s expected to be a tight contest.
The Family Violence Prevention Council invited the candidates to talk about domestic violence, child abuse, sex assault and elder abuse during a forum Tuesday at the Dallas Women’s Foundation. The platform offered Watkins and Hawk an opening and closing statement. In between, moderator Ken Benson posed questions that addressed what role the district attorney should play in family violence protective orders and how the candidates approach prosecuting domestic violence crimes without victim cooperation, for example.
October is National Domestic Violence Awareness month.
Hawk touted her integrity and her experience as a former felony judge and child abuse prosecutor. She said she’d emphasize timely grant applications to fund prosecution of crimes against women and children. She also said she’d like to see the child abuse and family violence units within the district attorney’s office collaborate better.
Watkins noted that under his two terms as district attorney, the county’s crime rate has fallen while his office’s credibility and budget have grown.
But at one point, Watkins had to ask his top assistant, Heath Harris, who was sitting in the audience, how long he had been in office. “You’re safer as a result of what we’ve done — how many years?” he said, as Harris supplied the figure: eight years.
Several times, Watkins interrupted when Benson tried to cut him off after Watkins’ speaking time had expired. “No, I’m not done,” Watkins said.
When Benson noted that he had only been able to ask the candidates one question in 20 minutes of what was supposed to be a 30-minute debate, Watkins said: “We’re politicians. We don’t have to answer your questions.”
In the hallway afterward, Hawk listened as a reporter questioned Watkins about his performance at the forum and asked him to elaborate on points he made. Harris encouraged his boss to leave but as Watkins began to respond anyway, Hawk muttered to him, “Have another cocktail.”
“A what?” Watkins quickly retorted. “Can you believe what she just said? And she wants to be district attorney.”
Watkins then left as Harris escorted him out.
The district attorney later called his opponent’s comment “shallow.“
“It was low-budget and it shows she should not be district attorney,” Watkins said. “I’m very surprised she would say something like that because of the issues she has had to deal with.” Watkins did not elaborate.
Hawk criticized Watkins’ performance during the debate.
“He didn’t answer any of the questions, and he seemed to be very confused,” she said.
Watkins countered that he had substance during the forum and he dismissed Hawk’s contention that he was confused. “Just ask the people in the audience about my approach.”
But Paige Flink, executive director of The Family Place shelter and one of the event’s organizers, said the audience was confused. She said she was disappointed that both candidates seemed more focused on attacking each other than addressing questions about how they would approach crimes against women and children.
“What I witnessed at our debate was an antagonistic environment between the two of them,” Flink said. “We were all in shock. The whole room was sitting there surprised that we weren’t getting the substance we were looking for.”
smervosh@dallasnews.com; gjeffers@dallasnews.com
