DA candidates speak to Demopolis Rotarians
One thing both candidates for the 17th Judicial Circuit District Attorney post agree on is that they are ready for the campaign to be over.
Barrown Lankster and Greg Griggers spoke briefly Wednesday before the Demopolis Rotary Club. Each man had five minutes to talk on his qualifications and plans for the office should he be elected.
Both candidates are on the Democratic primary ballot Tuesday, May 24. There are no Republicans running for the office.
Lankster, who spoke first, held the DA post from 1993 through 1999. He spent most of his five minutes tracing his roots to the Marengo County area beginning with his great-grandfather, born a slave in 1853. “He was very industrious” and went on to earn a Doctor of Divinity degree, donated land in Linden for a school and taught for many years.
Lankster, the fifth of 12 children, graduated from G.P. Austin High School, Southern University and Livingston University. He earned his law degree from Howard University. He applied only to Howard, he said, because of his admiration for former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, a Howard alumnus.
Griggers, the incumbent DA, has held the position for 20 years. He has discovered during his campaign that “One of the biggest strengths we have is those 20 years in building relationships.” That includes law enforcement agencies across the state as well as state and local government officials.
“What you start to see is the time that you spend and the hard work you put in comes back to you over time,” he said. “I think I have an outstanding office made up of outstanding individuals.”
He told the Rotarians that his office “will continue to do what we’ve been doing. We’re not going to be complacent.”