Dallas County court coordinator Ann Marie Cruz had no campaign manager, three volunteers helping knock on voters’ doors and a few thousand dollars for yard signs ahead of the March 3 Democratic primary for County Clerk. 

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Damarcus Offord, a Dallas Area Rapid Transit official, had support from the 20-year outgoing incumbent, endorsements across the Democratic establishment, a high-profile campaign consultant and four times as much cash. 

Cruz knew she was the underdog. But after results were tallied, Cruz led with 43% of of ballots cast – beating Offord by more than 10,000 votes. A third candidate earned enough votes to prevent either from surpassing the 50% threshold that would have led to an outright win.  

Voters will decide the May 26 Democratic runoff between Cruz and Offord for county clerk, the first time in two decades incumbent John Warren has not run. It’s a matchup with candidates bringing different experiences to an office responsible for more than 1 billion county records ranging from misdemeanor, probate and civil courts to vital statistics and commissioners court filings. 

Since the primary, Offord, 34, scored an endorsement from U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico, adding to more than 60 others from Democratic elected officials and power brokers. Cruz, 58, is touting her experience in the office and endorsements from the Dallas Black Criminal Bar Association and Mexican American Bar Association. 

The outcome will depend on which Democrat can rally their voters to return to the polls in a runoff expected to have a quarter of the turnout of the primary. The winner will face Republican Skye Garcia in the Nov. 3 general election. 

‘For the people’ 

Offord was a junior at Lincoln High School when he got his first taste of politics. Kids were denied breakfast after their bus ran late, so Offord and others lobbied the district to extend meals for late arrivals.   

He ran unsuccessfully for Dallas ISD Board of Trustees in 2012 and 2015 in his early 20s and went to work as a staffer for the late U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson. He served in Dallas ISD’s Intergovernmental Relations department, where he said he spearheaded the district’s legislative agenda in Austin. He now leads state relations for Dallas Area Rapid Transit. 

“I like helping people,” Offord said. “Congresswoman Johnson said never get to a point where you get high and mighty where you think that the people work for you. No, you work for the people.” 

Offord said he met Dallas County Clerk John Warren about a decade ago at a political event and the veteran county official became his mentor.  

Warren withdrew his bid for a sixth term on the last day of the filing period in December to pursue a career in consulting. Offord filed to run that afternoon.

The timing required the Democratic Party to extend the race’s filing deadline by five days, a rule largely in place to prevent incumbents from allowing their preferred successors to slide into office. 

Cruz said she planned to run regardless of whether Warren withdrew. But the dynamic prompted Tony Grimes, the other primary candidate, to join over what he called an air of unfairness.  

Offord rejects any suggestion of favoritism. He says his experience in local, state and federal government will allow him to work with county officials and lawmakers to advance the office. 

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He wants to expand public access to the office by digitizing more applications and forms and finding ways to boost efficiencies. 

“Most people don’t think about the county clerk’s office until they need it, and my job is to make sure that we inform them before they need it,” Offord said. 

County experience 

Cruz was at home watching primary returns trickle in past midnight. When she woke up and saw she was in the lead, it reinforced her determination to lead an office where she spent decades working and observing. 

“That meant the world to me with all the powers-that-be that endorsed him,” Cruz said of Offord.  

After graduating from Justin F. Kimball High School in Oak Cliff in 1986, Cruz took a job as a bond forfeiture clerk in the county clerk’s office, the beginning of a 40-year local government career.  

She became a misdemeanor criminal clerk before being promoted to chief clerk around 1990. In 2007 she moved out of the clerk’s office to become a court coordinator, where she remains today. She first ran for county clerk in 2022, losing to Warren in the runoff. 

Cruz said her decades in the county clerk’s office allow her to best respond to attorneys and the public navigating the system. If elected she wants to improve communication with the jail to expedite transmission of court documents and boost morale of employees.  

She wants to deploy customer service representatives to help the public navigate various departments and increase the number of translators who work with clerks.  

“I know the system, I know what’s needed to be done step by step,” Cruz said. “My years of being here so long, I kind of have it down engrained in me … I could do the job with my eyes closed.” 

New leadership 

If elected, both candidates said they plan to increase awareness around deed fraud and scams, boosted by the passage of SB 16 last year that created new criminal offenses for property theft. Both want to do more community engagement beyond election season to educate the public about an office many ignore.  

As they knock on doors, Cruz and Offord said they are urging voters to understand how they may need the clerk’s office for everything from death certificates to civil lawsuit filings.  

No matter the outcome, this election will bring the first new leadership of the office in 20 years when Warren’s term ends Dec. 31. 

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