Four Democratic judicial candidates for the District 13 Court of Appeals visited Cuero on September 11 to meet county residents at Millie’s on Main and to ask for support in the November election.
Hosted by the De-Witt/ LaVaca Democratic Women, voters also met Tanya Lloyd, a first-grade teacher from Lockhart, running against Michael Cloud for District 27 U.S. Congress, as well as Stephanie Bassham, running against AJ Louderback for District 30 State Representative.
Two of the 13th Court candidates, Gina Benavides and Nora Longoria, have served as justices on the court for a combined total of 30 years. The 13th Court of Appeals has a .01 percent rate of reversal on cases, according to Longoria.
Two other judicial candidates, Joe Martinez and Regi Richardson, are longtime court attorneys with both civil and criminal experience.
“I’ve been fascinated with the 13th Court for years,” Martinez said prior to the public presentation. “In the 80s when I first started practicing, they were reversed all the time. I’m in awe of these women who have come in and now it’s hardly ever reversed.”
Although they are elected on party tickets, judges are required to refrain from partisan politics. The judicial branch is not supposed to advance party agendas, but “follow the law,” Longoria said. Each candidate faces a Republican opponent, and Longoria said the GOP candidates might have an agenda.
JUSTICE GINA BENAVIDES, CHIEF JUSTICE
First to speak at the presentation was Justice Gina Benavidas, who is currently the senior justice serving on the Court of Appeals with a total of 18 years on the court. She is running to fill the open position of Chief Justice, which has been held by longtime justice Dori Contreras. Benavidas’ GOP opponent is Jaime Tijerina.
Justice Benavides is a graduate of the University of Houston School of Law. She is active within her community of McAllen. Benavides and her husband count their eight grandchildren as the light of their lives.
Benavides said as senior justice she’s served as “right-hand woman” to the chief justice, and she knows how to administer the court, which has a $ 7.6 million budget.
“That’s important,” she said. “You want someone who knows how to go get a budget from the legislature and has the ability to manage that. I’ve done that, not only for our current chief justice, but also with the previous chief. I’ve also done it with other government institutions.”
District 13 encompasses 20 counties, running from Corpus Christi to Edinburg. “I know how to get funding out for all the counties,” she said. “But we’ve got a lot to do. We’ve heard oral arguments in Victoria, and I want to do more of that.”
Benavides said that since judges are in the middle of the ballot, voters often overlook them. She said it's important to look at the top of the ballot and bottom and everything between.
JUSTICE NORA LONGORIA, INCUMBENT PLACE 2
As a 12-year incumbent for Place 2 on the Court of Appeals, Nora Longoria has deep Texas roots. She is the daughter of a South Texas rancher and a school teacher. Longoria earned an undergraduate degree from Texas A&M University and a law degree from the University of Texas. While serving on the Court of Appeals, Justice Longoria has written and jointly authored more than 1200 opinions.
She faces Republican candidate Jenny Cron. Longoria said her opponent has less trial experience than her and no judicial experience.
“South Texas deserves better than that,” she said. “I have learned something new every day and so has Gina. And that makes us better judges for everybody, not just Democrats or Republicans. Everybody deserves a good court.”
JOE MARTINEZ, PLACE 4
Joe Martinez is a lifelong resident of McAllen and a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law. He has been married to his wife, Josie, for 40 years. They are proud parents of three children and five grandchildren. Martinez has 42 years of legal experience in civil, criminal and appellate law.
He described his early experience of going to law school at Georgetown in Washington D.C. and determining that he wanted to spend his life helping the people of South Texas. So he came back to finish law school at UT and did just that, “taking all kinds of cases” and practicing law in McAllen for 42 years.
“I am so thrilled to be running with these three gracious ladies,” he said. “They will teach me what I need to know on the court.”
Martinez faces Republican Ysmael Fonseca in the election.
REGI RICHARDSON, PLACE 5 Vying for an open position, Place 5, is Regi Richardson, who advanced in the Democratic primary for the right to run in this position. Regi is a 2002 graduate of Texas Southern University, Thurgood Marshall School of Law and has worked for more than 20 years as an attorney in the Edinburg area.
Richardson said that judges are not supposed to share opinions on political issues, but she said the reason she’s running on the Democratic ticket is because, in general, the party is more inclusive.
“That really matters because who your judges are makes a huge difference in your everyday life. I’m honored to be running in such a legacy, in such a time, in such a cycle,” Richardson said.
She said she was raised to think of herself as one of many and that’s how a civilized society works.
“I always tell people you have to stop letting them make you think that the government is separate from you. The government is us, and all the money that the government has is our money,” she said. “They make you think that somehow it’s theirs, and they’re doing you a favor by talking to you about it. But it's yours. These courts are yours. We want to sit so that we can make sure that you continue feeling that way.”
Richardson said that in her practice she was in the courtroom, every day, running up and down the stairs (because the elevator went out one time). She said the appellate court is a replay of the trial and she’s ready for that because she’s coming straight from the field and she’s ready for that position.
Richardson faces Republican Jon West in the election.
STATE REPRESENTATIVE, U.S. CONGRESS After the judicial candidates spoke, two other Democrats on November’s ballot briefly introduced themselves. Both Tanya Lloyd and Stephanie Bassham decided to enter their respective races because the GOP candidates were running unopposed, and both count education and women’s reproductive rights as top issues.
Tanya Lloyd is a fifth generation Texan from Lockhart. She is running against Michael Cloud for District 27 U.S. Congress. “If you knew Michael Cloud's voting record, what he voted against, you would be appalled,” she said, especially in regard to veterans.
She said she wants to strengthen support for education in Congress and work towards women’s reproductive rights.
Stephanie Bassham is running against AJ Louderback for District 30 State Representative.
She grew up in West Virginia, coming from a strong Democratic, pro-union family. She married her high school sweetheart. “Thirty four years later we’re here in Texas,” she said.
She moved to Texas in 2017 and said she’s not had the opportunity, while here, to vote for a Democrat for her house district seat. Bassham said she’s “happy to be the face of that aggressive woman that’s going to get things done.”
Like Lloyd, she mentioned strengthening public education, especially the CTE (Career and Tech Education) program. She also will work for women’s reproductive health.
After the candidates spoke, an impromptu auction of two bottles of wine made in DeWitt County brought in $150 each.
For more information visit the website of the DeWitt/ LaVaca Democratic Women at https://dewittlavacatxdemocratwomen. wordpress. com/
