Sarah Eckhardt

Last updated

Kurt Sauer
(m. 1998;div. 2016)
Sarah Eckhardt
Sarah Eckhardt Headshot.jpg
Eckhardt in 2021
Member of the Texas Senate
from the 14th district
Assumed office
July 31, 2020
Children2
Parent(s) Bob Eckhardt and Nadine (née Cannon) Eckhardt
Education New York University (BFA)
University of Texas, Austin (MPA, JD)
Signature Sarah Eckhardt Signature.png

Sarah Eckhardt (born 1968) is an American attorney and politician from the state of Texas. She is a member of the Texas Senate and a former county judge for Travis County, Texas.

Contents

Early life

Eckhardt is the daughter of Bob Eckhardt, a Democratic politician who represented the Houston area in Congress from 1967 to 1981. [2] Eckhardt attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston. She appeared in the 1981 film Student Bodies . Eckhardt earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater from New York University in 1986, and joined the Atlantic Theater Company. [3]

Government and political career

Returning to Texas, Eckhardt worked with Ann Richards' 1990 gubernatorial campaign. She was a delegate to the 1992 Democratic National Convention. She became a paralegal in 1993, and enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin in 1994, earning a Master of Public Affairs and Juris Doctor. Eckhardt served as an assistant county attorney for Travis County from 1998 to 2005. Eckhardt was elected to the Travis County Commissioners Court to represent Precinct 2 in the 2006 elections. She was reelected in 2010. In 2013 she resigned her position on the Court in order to be eligible to run to succeed retiring long time County Judge Sam T. Biscoe. In March, 2014 she defeated Andy Brown in the Democratic primary, and that Fall she was elected Travis County Judge. [3] She was the first woman elected to the serve as Travis County Judge. In 2018 she was reelected to a second term as County Judge.

In spring 2020, when Kirk Watson announced he would resign from the Texas Senate, Eckhardt announced that she would run in the special election to succeed him, and resigned as county judge in accordance with the Texas Constitution. [4] [5] She received 49.7% of the vote, just shy of the 50% required to avoid a runoff. Eddie Rodriguez, who finished in second with 34% of the vote, decided to forego the runoff, making Eckhardt the winner. [6] Her predecessor, Sam T. Biscoe, served as interim county judge until the swearing in of Andy Brown, who was elected to succeed Eckhardt in November 2020. [1]

On December 4, 2020, Eckhardt was sanctioned by the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct (CJC) for remarks that she had made on January 24, 2017, while presiding over a meeting of the Travis County Commissioners Court, and on September 27, 2019, at the Texas Tribune Festival, during a panel discussion, recorded as: [7]

publicly admonished for engaging in willful conduct that cast public discredit upon the judiciary in violation of Article V, Section 1-a(6) of the Texas Constitution when she; (i) wore a pink knitted beanie with cat ears referred to as a “pussy hat” during a public meeting of the Travis County Commissioners Court, an action that could be perceived as undignified, offensive and inappropriate; and, (ii) made the public remark that Governor Abbott “hates trees because one fell on him,” a comment which could be perceived as offensive, demeaning, and derogatory towards the governor and others with physical disabilities.

Texas CJC [8]

Eckhardt apologized for the joke the following day [9] and was later cleared by a special court of review, which noted that the CJC "overreached in rebuking her." [10]

Personal life

Eckhardt married attorney Kurt Sauer in 1998. They have two children, and divorced in 2016. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Supreme Court of Texas</span> Highest court in the U.S. state of Texas for civil appeals

The Supreme Court of Texas is the court of last resort for civil matters in the U.S. state of Texas. A different court, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, is the court of last resort in criminal matters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texas Senate, District 14</span> American legislative district

District 14 of the Texas Senate is a senatorial district that currently serves Bastrop County and a portion of Travis county in the U.S. state of Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirk Watson</span> American politician

Kirk Preston Watson is an American attorney and politician who has served as the 59th mayor of Austin, Texas since 2023, previously holding the office as the 54th mayor from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, he ran unsuccessfully for Texas Attorney General in the 2002 election, when he was defeated by Republican Greg Abbott, later governor of Texas. In 2006, Watson was elected to the Texas Senate from District 14.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eva Guzman</span> American judge (born 1961)

Eva Martinez Guzman is an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as a member of the Texas Supreme Court from 2009 to 2021. In 2022, she became a partner at Wright Close & Barger, LLP in Houston, Texas.

The U.S. state of Texas issues marriage licenses to same-sex couples and recognizes those marriages when performed out-of-state. On June 26, 2015, the United States legalized same-sex marriage nationwide due to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. Prior to the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling Article 1, Section 32, of the Texas Constitution provided that "Marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman," and "This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage." This amendment and all related statutes have been ruled unconstitutional and unenforceable. Some cities and counties in the state recognize both same-sex and opposite-sex domestic partnerships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eddie Rodriguez (politician)</span> Texas state legislator

Eduardo Rene Rodriguez is an American politician served as a member of the Texas House of Representatives for the 51st district. Elected in November 2002, he assumed office in January 2003 and left office in 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Texas elections</span>

The 2014 general election was held in the U.S. state of Texas on November 4, 2014. All of Texas's executive officers were up for election as well as a United States Senate seat, and all of Texas's thirty-six seats in the United States House of Representatives. Primary elections were held on March 4, 2014. Primary runoffs, required if no candidate wins a majority of the vote, were held on May 27, 2014. Elections were also held for the Texas legislature and proposition 1, seeking funds for Texas highways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Empower Texans</span> Conservative advocacy group

Empower Texans was a conservative advocacy group in Texas that was active from 2006 to 2020. It was affiliated with Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, which was later spun off into its own organization. Empower Texans was based in Austin with operations in Dallas, Houston, and Midland. Empower Texans focused on fiscal conservatism by supporting lower taxes and spending restraint. It operated in Republican state-level politics in Texas, targeting candidates whom the group views as insufficiently conservative in Republican primaries.

Julie H. Kocurek is an American attorney who serves as the presiding judge of the 390th District Court in Austin, Texas since January 1999, being appointed by then-Governor George W. Bush. Prior to serving as a Texas state judge, Kocurek served as an assistant district attorney in Travis County for seven years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Texas elections</span>

The 2018 general election was held in the U.S. state of Texas on November 6, 2018. All of Texas's executive officers were up for election as well as a United States Senate seat, and all of Texas's thirty-six seats in the United States House of Representatives. The Republican and Democratic Parties nominated their candidates by primaries held March 6, 2018. Convention Parties nominated their candidates at a series of conventions. County Conventions held March 17, 2018, District Conventions held March 24, 2018, and a State Convention held April 14, 2018. At the present time there is only one Convention Party in Texas, that is the Libertarian Party. Other parties may seek to achieve ballot access.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dawn Buckingham</span> American politician

Dawn Buckingham is an American physician and politician who is Land Commissioner of Texas. She was elected in November 2022 and sworn in on January 10, 2023. She was a state Senator from 2017 to 2023. She worked as a surgeon before being elected Land Commissioner. She is the first woman in Texas history to serve as Land Commissioner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texas Senate Bill 4</span> 2017 law; bans sanctuary cities

Texas Senate Bill 4 is a bill that effectively bans sanctuary cities in the state of Texas. It was filed on November 15, 2016, and discussed during the regular session of the eighty-fifth Texas Legislature. Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed the bill into law on May 7, 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Texas gubernatorial election</span> Election for governor of Texas

The 2022 Texas gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Texas. Incumbent Republican governor Greg Abbott won re-election to a third term, defeating Democratic nominee and former Congressman, Beto O'Rourke. All statewide elected offices are currently held by Republicans. In his previous gubernatorial race in 2018, Abbott won with 55.8% of the vote.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 El Paso, Texas, elections</span>

On November 3, 2020 El Paso County elected the mayor of El Paso, Texas, four members of city council, two county commissioners, county sheriff, state senator, and five state representatives. El Pasoans voted for members of the House of Representatives of the United States from the 16th and 23rd districts of Texas, district attorney, United States senator, and president of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 Texas elections</span>

Texas state elections in 2020 were held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. Its primaries were held on March 3, 2020, with runoffs taking place on July 14.

Dennis Higgins Bonnen is an American businessman and politician. Bonnen served as Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives from 2019 to 2021. A Republican, Bonnen represented District 25 of the Texas House from 1997 to 2021. In 2013, then-Speaker Joe Straus appointed Bonnen as Speaker Pro Tempore, presiding over the House in the Speaker's absence. In January 2019, Bonnen was elected Speaker. He did not seek re-election in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">87th Texas Legislature</span> 2021 meeting of the Texas legislature

The 87th Texas Legislature was a meeting of the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Texas, composed of the Texas Senate and the Texas House of Representatives. The Texas State Legislature met in Austin, Texas, from January 12, 2021, to May 31, 2021. Governor Greg Abbott has announced three special legislative sessions during summer 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Austin mayoral election</span> Municipal election in Texas

The 2022 Austin mayoral election was held on November 8, 2022 to elect the next mayor of Austin, Texas. The election was nonpartisan; candidates' party affiliations did not appear on the ballot. Incumbent mayor Steve Adler was term-limited and could not run for re-election. In the general election, state representative Celia Israel and former mayor Kirk Watson took the first two spots, leading realtor Jennifer Virden and several other candidates. Because no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, the race proceeded to a runoff election between Israel and Watson on December 13, which Watson won by 30 votes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Texas elections</span> Elections in Texas

The 2022 Texas elections were held on November 8, 2022. Primary elections were held on March 1, with runoffs held on May 24 for primary candidates who did not receive a majority of the vote.

References

  1. 1 2 Lopez, Jasmine (December 29, 2020). "County Judge Sam Biscoe: Pinch-hitting during an extraordinary year". Austin Monitor.
  2. Smith, Amy (October 4, 2013). "Eckhardt Father and Daughter Day at Scholz: A centennial celebration provides platform to stump for county judge - News". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 Oudenaren, Daniel Van (July 7, 2020). "Background Investigation: Sarah Eckhardt". The Austin Bulldog.
  4. Pollock, Cassandra (March 10, 2020). "Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt resigns to run for Texas Senate". The Texas Tribune.
  5. Heather Osbourne. "Eckhardt makes resignation official; interim Travis County judge sworn in - News - Austin American-Statesman - Austin, TX". Statesman.com. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  6. Pollock, Cassandra (July 27, 2020). "Sarah Eckhardt wins special election for Texas Senate seat after Rep. Eddie Rodriguez forgoes a runoff". The Texas Tribune.
  7. Morris, Angela (December 23, 2020). "Can She Say That? Texas Judge Sanctioned Over 'Pussyhat', Comment About Governor". Law.com . Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  8. Hall, David (December 4, 2020). "CJS Nos.20-0 148&20-0469" (PDF). State of Texas. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  9. "Travis County judge apologizes for 'inappropriate' comment toward Texas Gov. Greg Abbott". KXAN . September 29, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  10. Svitek, Patrick (January 12, 2022). "Court reverses rebuke against state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt for wearing "pussyhat," mocking Gov. Greg Abbott's disability". The Texas Tribune .