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Mary Brown (Texas judge)
Mary Brown (Democratic Party) is a judge of the Texas 301st District Court. She assumed office on January 1, 2015. Her current term ends on December 31, 2026.
Brown (independent) ran for re-election for judge of the Texas 301st District Court. She won as a write-in in the general election on November 8, 2022. She was disqualified from the Democratic primary scheduled on March 1, 2022.
Brown completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Mary Brown was born in Dallas, Texas. She received a bachelor's degree from the University of Texas in 1982 and a J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center in 1986. Prior to her election as a district judge, Brown served as a family law associate judge for 18 years. She worked in the Dallas County District Attorney's Office from 1987 to 1988 and from 1991 to 1995. She headed the family law section of the Finer, Kim & Stearns law firm in 1990 and was a family law attorney at Coover & McCrossin from 1988 to 1989.[1][2]
Awards and associations
- Board of directors, Dallas Bar Association Family Law Section
- Member, Texas Bar Association Crime Victims Committee
- Member, CASA Educational Seminar Committee
- Life fellow, Dallas Bar Foundation
- Lecturer, Dallas Children's Advocacy Center
- Lecturer, Tarrant County and Dallas County Bar Associations Summer Bar Seminar
- Lecturer, Presbytarian Health Care System Continuing Medical Education
- Lecturer, Advanced Family Law Course
- Volunteer, Habitat for Humanity
- Sustainer, Junior League of Dallas
- Volunteer, Dallas Independent School District and Highland Park Independent School District Career Day[1]
Elections
2022
See also: Municipal elections in Dallas County, Texas (2022)
General election
General election for Texas 301st District Court
Incumbent Mary Brown defeated Earl Jackson and Michelle McKinney in the general election for Texas 301st District Court on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Mary Brown (Independent) (Write-in)  | 53.7 | 61,375 |
 | Earl Jackson (Independent) (Write-in) | 29.1 | 33,303 | |
 | Michelle McKinney (Independent) (Write-in) | 17.2 | 19,693 | |
| Total votes: 114,371 | |||
| = 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
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Mary Brown (D)
2018
General election
General election for Texas 301st District Court
Incumbent Mary Brown won election in the general election for Texas 301st District Court on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mary Brown (D) | 100.0 | 471,336 |
| Total votes: 471,336 | |||
| = 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 Texas 301st District Court
Incumbent Mary Brown advanced from the Democratic primary for Texas 301st District Court on March 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mary Brown | 100.0 | 92,865 |
| Total votes: 92,865 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
2014
See also: Texas judicial elections, 2014
Brown ran for election to the 301st District Court.
Primary: She was successful in the Democratic primary on March 4, 2014, receiving 64.2 percent of the vote. She competed against George White, David Hanschen, Lawrence J. Praeger and Craig Bonham.
General: She won without opposition in the general election on November 4, 2014.
[3][4][5]
Selection method
- See also: Partisan election of judges
The judges of the Texas District Courts are chosen in partisan elections. They serve four-year terms, after which they must run for re-election if they wish to continue serving.[6]
Though Texas is home to more than 400 district courts, the courts are grouped into nine administrative judicial regions. Each region is overseen by a presiding judge who is appointed by the governor to a four-year term. According to the state courts website, the presiding judge may be a "regular elected or retired district judge, a former judge with at least 12 years of service as a district judge, or a retired appellate judge with judicial experience on a district court."[7]
Qualifications
To serve on the district courts, a judge must be:
- a U.S. citizen;
- a resident of Texas;
- licensed to practice law in the state;
- between the ages of 25 and 75;*[8]
- a practicing lawyer and/or state judge for at least four years; and
- a resident of his or her respective judicial district for at least two years.[6]
*While no judge older than 74 may run for office, sitting judges who turn 75 are permitted to continue serving until their term expires.[6]
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Mary Brown completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Brown's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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- Experienced. I have served the citizens of Dallas County for over 30 years, 26 of which have been as a judge
- Efficient. I am completing my second four year term and am proud to say that we have the lowest case count among the seven family courts. This is because of the hard work of our entire team during the Pandemic. The procedures we put in place to handle cases remotely were so effective that we have continued them to the present.
- Consistency with compassion. I know that as a Judge, consistency is key for both litigants and Attorneys. I have policies and procedures in place that help guide cases to closure. Attorneys and litigants know what they can expect when they come before the court because of this. My highest marks on the Judicial Bar Polls are always on judicial temperament. I treat all those who come before me with respect and compassion. Consequently, people are not scared to bring their conflicts before the court for resolution.
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
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mary Brown official campaign website, "About Judge Brown," accessed May 7, 2015
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 10, 2022
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "2014 March Primary Election Candidate Filings by County (A-L)"
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "2014 March Primary Election Candidate Filings by County (M-Z)" (Search "Dallas")
- ↑ Dallas County Board of Elections, "Democratic Party Primary Election March 4, 2014," March 11, 2014
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Texas," archived October 3, 2014
- ↑ Texas Courts Online, "Administrative Judicial Regions," accessed September 12, 2014
- ↑ Texas State Historical Association, "Judiciary," accessed September 12, 2014
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