In DeLay Case, Prosecutor Welcomes Spotlight

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USTIN, Tex. - A man who once thought he recognized Ronnie Earle in a restaurant sent a waitress over to ask "if you're the district eternity of Austin."

It can sure seem that way to voters here in the Texas capital. Mr. Earle, 62, has been the Travis County prosecutor since Jimmy Carter won the White House and is now running without major opposition for an eighth four-year term.

In that time, Mr. Earle, a onetime Eagle Scout who is not above sharp-elbowing his adversaries, has collected the scalps of prominent fellow Democrats as well as Republicans, while managing to fend off attacks on his own. And as if an embodiment of the city's unofficial slogan, "Keep Austin Weird," he once even prosecuted himself.

Now, having put off dreams of retirement and a return to his small ranch outside Austin to chop cedar, Mr. Earle is in the spotlight as he pursues a case with ties to one of the most powerful Republicans in the country, Representative Tom DeLay, whose ethical problems in Washington - the biggest faced by any House majority leader since Newt Gingrich in 1998 - could help Democratic House candidates

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/11/national/11earle.html?oref=login