Desperate for a challenger to a longtime Democratic district attorney in a sparsely populated area of deep red, oil-rich Texas that lies some 250 miles east of El Paso, Republicans turned to Sarah Stogner, an oil-and-gas lawyer who, on paper, would seem to be an unlikely candidate to boost the party in what ought to have been one of its strongholds, the New York Times reports. She has never tried a criminal case. And she’s made her mark in Texas oil law mainly for suing Chevron over environmental damage from abandoned oil wells. One of her biggest claims to statewide fame was a TikTok video she made in 2022, during her campaign for a seat on the Texas Railroad Commission, the government agency that regulates the oil industry, in which she rode a pump jack nearly topless. But concerns about crime and potential human trafficking in the area prompted Stogner to step up. Her entrance as a Republican challenger means that for the first time since 2008 there will be an actual contest for the top prosecutor job in a corner of Texas where fears about crime are often addressed by carrying a sidearm.
The brazenness of some crime in the district — which includes Ward, Reeves and Loving counties — was part of what motivated Stogner, who said she usually carried a handgun with her. “There’s a lot of human trafficking, there’s a lot of domestic violence,” she said. A Texas Monthly article, back in 2008, took Randy Reynolds, the incumbent district attorney, to task for a relatively low prosecution rate for cases of drug trafficking, theft, assault and robbery brought to his office by law enforcement. More than a decade ago, he faced scrutiny for letting a sex abuse case at a state-run school languish. It was ultimately taken over by the attorney general at the time, Greg Abbott, who is now the governor. After that scandal, Reynolds faced an opponent in the Democratic primary and won. He has not been opposed since.
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