Two candidates are looking to replace current Hidalgo County District Attorney Ricardo Rodriguez, who is not seeking reelection.

The district attorney decides which cases end up before a grand jury and a judge.

Attorney Terry Palacios, the uncle of current district attorney Ricardo Rodriguez, says voters should look at his past experience.

"Your qualifications should take you a long way,” Palacios said. “We want a DA that does have the experience. We want a DA that has been involved in the community."

For abortion cases, Texas law now bans them, except when the life of the mother is at risk. While some Democratic DA’s in Texas have said they will not follow through with those accused of breaking this law, Terry Palacios says he has a different plan.

"If we have somebody that wants to abort because of incest, and they get presented or get charged with it, we're going to present it to a grand jury and see if they want to indict or not," Palacios said.

Republican candidate, attorney Juan Tijerina, believes Hidalgo County voters want change and wants to go after local corruption.

"There's no reason why we're waiting for the federal government to get involved in investigating and prosecuting those cases,” Tijerina said.

On abortion,  Tijerina says he will follow the law, along with state restrictions put in place.

“It's about representing the people of the county if they place me in that position and enforcing the laws that our legislatures have created," Tijerina said.