The choice is easy in the Democratic primary for the state 191st District Court. Voters should oust longtime incumbent Judge Gena Slaughter and elect Dallas attorney Elizabeth Ginsberg to the civil court bench.
Ginsberg, 57, has the right temperament and experience to run the 191st. A practicing attorney for more than 30 years, she has handled an impressive range of cases, including product liability, major industrial accidents and real estate transactions. Now in private practice, most of her work revolves around contract disputes.
By contrast, the strikes against Slaughter, 54, are numerous. Since she was first elected in 2006, she has been publicly disciplined several times by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, which adjudicates ethical complaints against judges.
Last February the commission publicly reprimanded her for letting motions sit pending for months and not issuing orders until compelled by the 5th District Court of Appeals. In 2022, she received a public warning for failing to timely file campaign finance reports. And in 2020, she received a public reprimand for allowing her Texas law license to lapse.
Opinion
We reluctantly recommended Slaughter in the 2010 general election against a Republican rival, saying she needed to be better prepared and issue more timely rulings — areas of criticism in the Dallas Bar Association’s Judicial Evaluation Poll.
Slaughter is still having the same problems; 75% of respondents in the 2025 poll said she needed improvement in issuing timely decisions, and 52% said she needed to be better prepared for hearings and trials.
We wish we could have discussed these issues with Slaughter. But she did not attend our interview, nor has she responded to our Voter Guide questionnaire at this writing.
Ginsberg gave thoughtful answers in our interview with her and already has a game plan to address the concerns in the 191st if elected. For example, she said she would immediately identify pending motions and schedule status conferences with attorneys waiting for rulings.
Ginsberg is the far better candidate.
This editorial is part of the Dallas Morning News Editorial Board’s slate of recommendations for the 2026 primary. Find the full project here.
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