Erika Ramirez

Erika Ramirez

Democratic Party

Candidate, Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 8

Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 8

Tenure

2023 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

3

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Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last election

March 3, 2026

Next election

November 3, 2026

Education

Bachelor's

University of Texas, Austin, 2007

Personal

Birthplace

Houston, TX

Contact

Personal LinkedIn

Erika Ramirez (Democratic Party) is a judge of the Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 8 in Texas. She assumed office on January 1, 2023. Her current term ends on January 1, 2027.

Ramirez (Democratic Party) is running for re-election for judge of the Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 8 in Texas. She is on the ballot in the general election on November 3, 2026. She advanced from the Democratic primary on March 3, 2026.

Biography

Erika Ramirez was born in Houston, Texas. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Texas, Austin in 2007.

Elections

2026

See also: Municipal elections in Harris County, Texas (2026)

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

General election for Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 8

Incumbent Erika Ramirez (D) and Victor Flores (R) are running in the general election for Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 8 on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Erika Ramirez (D)
		Victor Flores (R)

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary

The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

Democratic primary for Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 8

Incumbent Erika Ramirez (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 8 on March 3, 2026.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Erika Ramirez	100.0	295,649

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. Source	Total votes: 295,649
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Republican primary

The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

Republican primary for Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 8

Victor Flores (R) advanced from the Republican primary for Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 8 on March 3, 2026.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Victor Flores	100.0	147,305

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	There were no incumbents in this race. Source	Total votes: 147,305
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Endorsements

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2022

See also: Municipal elections in Harris County, Texas (2022)

General election

General election for Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 8

Erika Ramirez defeated Mark Goldberg in the general election for Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 8 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Erika Ramirez (D)	51.2	542,004
	Submit photo	Mark Goldberg (R)	48.8	516,502

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,058,506
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 8

Erika Ramirez defeated incumbent Franklin Bynum in the Democratic primary for Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 8 on March 1, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Erika Ramirez	59.4	84,482
	Submit photo	Franklin Bynum	40.6	57,771

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 142,253
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 8

Mark Goldberg advanced from the Republican primary for Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 8 on March 1, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Mark Goldberg	100.0	133,251

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 133,251
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Erika Ramirez has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey. If you are Erika Ramirez, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.

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Campaign website

Ramirez's campaign website stated the following:

Committed to Community, Respect, and Fairness

Community

From a young age, Erika learned the importance of serving her community. Erika was born and raised in Harris County. She graduated from Bellaire High School and South Texas College of Law Houston.

Erika is the daughter of two social workers. They tirelesly assisted individuals with significant challenges to attain access and resources. Their example forged Erika’s commitment to serve her community. Erika has worked with local groups and organizations providing assistance to children, immigrants, and survivors of domestic violence.

She is a proud Democrat and member of various local political groups and organizations.

Respect

Erika understands and respects the legal process and the potential ramifications on all persons involved.

Erika began working at the Harris County District Attorney’s Office as a caseworker assistant. After returning to school and becoming the first lawyer in her family, Erika was hired as an Assistant District Attorney. She has handled misdemeanor and felony cases and has also served as a Criminal County Court of Law Chief Prosecutor. When circumstances warranted, Erika has obtained convictions from Harris County jurors on charges of aggravated robbery, sexual assault, and capital murder.

Erika has served the citizens of Harris County by thoroughly evaluating every case and taking steps to protect the rights of the persons accused, victims, and the community.

Fairness

The importance of a fair an impartial process runs deep in Erika’s family history.

Her parents were uprooted from their small Texas border town when her father was diagnosed with Hansen’s disease (commonly known as leprosy). At the time, persons with Hansen’s were removed from society and confined based on unfounded and unfair stereotypes and prejudices. When this unjust practice ended, Erika’s parents moved to Houston, where Erika was born.

Erika will apply the law and precedent to the facts and assure that the rights of both sides are protected. Fairness requires that all sides are listened to, understand the the process and consequences of the decisions and agreements made in court.

— Erika Ramirez's campaign website (March 10, 2026)

Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.

2022

Erika Ramirez completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Ramirez's responses.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a Democratic candidate for Judge of Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 8. I was born and raised in Houston, Texas by 2 social workers who taught at an early age the importance of giving back to the community. After graduating from the University of Texas- Austin, I worked as a teacher and caseworker assistant with victims of Domestic Violence. I decided to go to law school with the goal of serving my community as an Assistant District Attorney. I currently works as a Prosecutor helping victims of identify theft, but I've tried cases from Class C tickets to Capital Murder. I am involved in many organizations, including Child Advocates, Houston Bar Association, and Houston Area Women's Center Young Leaders.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• A Judge should be respectful of the process and parties involved
• A Judge should be fair in the application of the law
• A Judge should be involved in the community

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I feel passionate about voter rights and the fight against intimate partner and sexual violence.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

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Footnotes

Texas courts

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Federal courts:

Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Texas, Western District of Texas, Northern District of Texas, Southern District of Texas • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Texas, Western District of Texas, Northern District of Texas, Southern District of Texas

State courts:

Texas Supreme Court • Texas Court of Appeals • Texas Court of Criminal Appeals • Texas District Courts • Texas County Courts • Texas County Courts at Law • Texas Statutory Probate Courts • Texas Justice of the Peace Courts

State resources:

Courts in Texas • Texas judicial elections • Judicial selection in Texas