2018 TX Governor's race: on Crime

Lupe Valdez: End the era of mass incarceration, plus major reforms

Greg Abbott: Raise bail when past criminals are re-arrested

Abbott said bond amounts would be set to better match the threat of accused criminals. His changes would include:
• Having judges and magistrates who set bail be informed of the defendant's full criminal history and take that into account when setting bond amounts.
• Adding the safety of law enforcement to the list of threats judges must consider when setting bail.
• Implementing a statewide case management system, so judges and magistrates would have all the relevant information at bail settings.

Lupe Valdez: Too many people are kept in jail simply because they're poor

Former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez, the Democratic candidate for governor, said in a statement that a discussion on bail reform must address that too many people are kept in jail simply because they're poor. She also knocked Abbott for excluding gun control from the conversation. "If we are going to talk about keeping our communities safe from harm, we must put in place gun safety measures including universal background checks and red flag laws, which could have kept Dabrett Black from having access to the gun that killed Officer Allen," Valdez said.