Dems retake district courts

All of Harris County’s state district judges are Democrats again after voters booted out the two seated Republicans, both of whom were gubernatorial appointees.

Te’iva Bell, a Harris County public defender, on Tuesday won the 339th Judicial District Court seat, beating incumbent Jesse McClure by more than 6 percentage points.

Her election brings the criminal courts back to a slate of all Democrats, whose 2018 sweep of the judiciary lasted just a year. In November 2019, Gov. Greg Abbott appointed McClure, a Republican, to a vacant seat left by Maria Jackson, whore signed and announced a future run for Harris County Precinct 3 commissioner.

Voters also flipped one Republican seat in the civil district courts, cementing total Democratic control there. Senior Assistant County Attorney Cheryl Elliott Thornton ousted incumbent Michael Landrum in the 16th Judicial District, where he has served since August as another Abbott appointee to a vacant seat.

Democrats retained their only other contested criminal judicial seat, with former federal public defender and civil rights attorney Natalia Cornelio defeating Arlene Hecht in the 351st Judicial District. The party also held on to a handful of contested civil seats, and several criminal and civil Democratic candidates ran unopposed.

The sole family court judge up for reelection, Julia Maldonado, also won her race against Alyssa Lemkuil, a Republican.