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Meet The #Houston19: All 19 Black Women Who Ran For Judge In Houston Won

Meet The #Houston19: All 19 Black Women Who Ran For Judge In Houston Won

Written by Ann Brown

Nov 09, 2018

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You can call them the #Houston19. History was made in Houston, Texas, in the midterm elections as Harris County elected all 19 Black women who ran for various judicial seats. This is actually the single biggest victory for Black women in that county’s history.

“The victory of the #Houston19, as the group of women are called, has obvious local impact: Harris County, which encompasses most of Houston, is the third-largest county in the country, and one of the most diverse. Adding 19 women of color to judicial seats builds a bench that’s more reflective of the population it serves, which, as with all elected offices, is a good thing,” Cosmopolitan reported.

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The new judges are: Ramona Franklin, Germaine Tanner, Sandra Peake, Maria Jackson, Angela Graves-Harrington, Cassandra Holleman, Latosha Lewis Payne, LaShawn Williams, Dedra Davis, Tonya Jones, Linda Dunson, Toria Finch, Ronnisha Bowman, Lucia Bates, Erica Hughes, Michelle Moore, Lori Chambers Gray, Shannon Baldwin, and Sharon Burney.

The women ran together on a Democratic ticket, and as part of their campaign strategy they appeared on posters with the slogan “Let’s Make History.”

This is significant because this increases diversity in the judicial system on two ends, increasing the number of Black judges and increasing the number of female judges.

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The 19 successful women in Harris county. Erica Hughes, who was elected to a criminal court position, wrote: ‘We want to turn Harris county upside down.’ Photograph: harrisblackgirlmagic.com

 

“According to data collected by the American Constitution Society, a national progressive organization focused on the legal system, women of color make up less than 20 percent of state judges. While county judges don’t have quite as much jurisdiction, in most states (including Texas), they have important local responsibilities, including a slew of election procedures, signing off on bail amounts, and jury selection,” Cosmopolitan reported.

A county judge oversees local races, election finance, bonds, court operations, district issues, presiding over some criminal and civil cases, among their important local issues.

“According to the Texas Association of Counties guide, ‘The duties of a county judge vary depending on the population of the county. In most rural counties, the judge has broad judicial responsibilities and is often the principal source of information and assistance,’” Bustle reported.

One of the new judges, Latosha Lewis Payne, who was elected for the 55th Civil Judicial District agrees, told Fox 5, “I think that having an African American judge or having a female judge — those are the kinds of things we bring to the bench. And we bring an understanding of a person who may come from that similar background.”

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