Morales said during an interview with Texas Monthly in 1996, that while toiling as a Bexar County prosecutor, "the exposure to the system and seeing victims get the shaft impressed upon me that changes needed to be made." Those changes, Morales came to learn, were best addressed at the legislative level, so he felt compelled to run in 1984 against the incumbent legislator and defense attorney Joe Hernandez.
Morales stated during an interview with Texas Monthly in 1996, that his experiences as a Bexar County prosecutor had shown him the need for reform, particularly in regards to victims receiving unfair treatment. He came to believe that this change could be best achieved through legislative action, prompting him to run against incumbent legislator and defense attorney Joe Hernandez in 1984.