Graham leads Barrett in local judge’s race
With more than 12,000 votes tabulated, Joe Graham was ahead of his opponent, Tamra Barrett, in the Garland County District Court, Department 1, nonpartisan judicial race by almost 60 percent of the vote late Tuesday.
Asked if he was surprised by his lead, which emerged after early voting and continued throughout the night, Graham said, “I really had no expectations of how it would turn out. Win, lose or percentage-wise.” At presstime, Graham led Barrett 7,191 to 4,920.
He noted he had a campaign worker in Little Rock doing a phone poll
which “showed me a few points ahead,” but a “large number of people polled didn’t really know who either of us candidates were.”
Graham said he hoped the voters considered his experience and successes as a prosecutor over the years in making their decision. “I’ve prosecuted a lot of cases, high profile cases, and I’ve always worked hard for the citizens of Garland County. I hope that’s what they were looking at when they voted for me.”
The race between Graham and Barrett got fairly contentious, with allegations of misconduct brought up against both candidates on social media.
Asked if that helped his race, Graham said, “I don’t know if they looked at that or not. I tried my best to take the high road throughout the campaign and not focus on the negative, only the positive.
“I’ve done well in my profession and have tried to seek justice. When your character is attacked over something completely not anything like they portrayed it to be, that was really hard. That was the worst thing. I hope my reputation hasn’t been damaged because I have worked hard to get the reputation I have.”
Asked what his plans are for the immediate future, he said he had spoken to current Garland County District Court Judge Meredith Switzer, whom he will be replacing, and she “offered me whatever help I needed if I won.”
He said one of the first things he plans to do is attend all the DWI and veteran court sessions Switzer will be conducting in the coming months “so I can become familiar with the defendants she is dealing with and their needs so it will be a seamless transition.”
Graham stressed that until the first of the year he would continue in his role as chief deputy prosecutor and “I will continue to do my best to deliver justice to the families of homicide and rape cases.”