Judge Kristen Hawkins, 51, has served the 11th District Court in Houston since 2017. Democrats should make her their nominee for Place 7 on the Texas Supreme Court.
Hawkins would bring valuable perspective to the court, notably from her experience as a trial court judge. Only three of the nine current justices have that experience.
Hawkins has presided over more than 200 trials. In our candidate interview, she stressed the importance of jury trials — access to them for litigants and respect for jury verdicts by appellate courts. She said higher courts should be very reluctant to overturn jury verdicts.
Hawkins also stressed consistency. She said trial court judges need steady guidance from higher courts and that she would work to make sure the Supreme Court provides it.
Opinion
Hawkins is board-certified in judicial administration. which could help the court keep up its favorable reputation for timely justice.
Hawkins has the respect of her peers in the judicial community. She’s rated favorably in the Houston Bar poll, and the Texas Chapter of The American Board of Trial Advocates named her Judge of the Year in 2021. A state panel of judges assigned her the high-profile case involving 10 deaths at a Travis Scott concert at NRG Park in 2021.
Hawkins is endorsed by liberal groups, but she distanced herself from partisanship saying that if a judge is doing her job well, it shouldn’t be obvious what party she belongs to. She said she is sensitive to the common critique about legislating from the bench.
Hawkins’ opponent, Gordon Goodman, 72, presided over the 1st Court of Appeals from 2019 until 2024 when he lost his re-election bid in the primary.
Goodman has experience with oil and gas, banking and appellate law, which could all be beneficial at the Supreme Court. But he is less careful about aligning judges with political parties. In our candidate interview, he gave a rousing and admirable answer to why he identifies as a Democrat, which contrasted with Hawkins’ dispassionate approach.
Goodman prides himself on his dissenting opinions, some of which aligned with higher courts in cases that were overturned.
Both of these candidates are capable, civil and well-informed. They traveled from Houston to Dallas for our candidate interviews, indicative of how seriously they are taking their tasks.
The winner will face incumbent Kyle Hawkins, who is unopposed in the primary. Hawkins was appointed in October by Gov. Greg Abbott.