Scot Dollinger
Scot Dollinger (Democratic Party) (also known as Dolli) was a judge of the Texas 189th District Court. He assumed office on January 1, 2019. He left office on December 31, 2022.
Dollinger (Democratic Party) ran for re-election for judge of the Texas 189th District Court. He lost in the Democratic primary on March 1, 2022.
Dollinger completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.
Dollinger was a 2014 judicial candidate for the Harris County Civil Court at Law in Texas.[1]
Biography
Scot Dollinger was born in Beaumont, Texas. Dollinger earned an undergraduate degree in speech from Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois) in 1984. He went on to receive his J.D. from Emory University Law School in 1987. Below is a summary of Dollinger's professional experience.[2][3]
- 2002: Owner and litigation attorney, Dollinger Law Firm
- 1996-2001: Litigation attorney, The Klinger Law Office
- 1995-1996: Litigation attorney, Scot G. Dollinger, Attorney at Law
- 1994-1995: Litigation attorney, Rodney D. Young Insurance Company
- 1990-1994: Litigation attorney, Benckenstein, Norvell, Bernsen & Nathan
- 1988-1990: Litigation attorney, Orgain, Bell & Tucker
- 1987-1988: Law clerk, U.S. District Judge Howell Cobb[2]
Elections
2022
See also: Municipal elections in Harris County, Texas (2022)
General election
General election for Texas 189th District Court
Tamika Craft defeated Erin Lunceford in the general election for Texas 189th District Court on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Tamika Craft (D) | 50.1 | 533,710 |
 | Erin Lunceford (R) | 49.9 | 530,967 | |
| Total votes: 1,064,677 | |||
 = 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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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Texas 189th District Court
Tamika Craft defeated Lema Mousilli and incumbent Scot Dollinger in the Democratic primary for Texas 189th District Court on March 1, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Tamika Craft | 54.5 | 78,563 |
 | Lema Mousilli | 26.3 | 37,876 | |
 | Scot Dollinger | 19.2 | 27,716 | |
| Total votes: 144,155 | |||
| = 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 Texas 189th District Court
Erin Lunceford advanced from the Republican primary for Texas 189th District Court on March 1, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Erin Lunceford | 100.0 | 140,719 |
| Total votes: 140,719 | |||
| = 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
To view Dollinger's endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.
2018
General election
General election for Texas 189th District Court
Scot Dollinger defeated Sharon Hemphill in the general election for Texas 189th District Court on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Scot Dollinger (D) | 55.4 | 655,707 |
 | Sharon Hemphill (R) | 44.6 | 526,976 | |
| Total votes: 1,182,683 | |||
| = 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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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Texas 189th District Court
Scot Dollinger defeated Fred Cook in the Democratic primary for Texas 189th District Court on March 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Scot Dollinger | 50.8 | 70,799 |
| Fred Cook | 49.2 | 68,632 | ||
| Total votes: 139,431 | |||
| = 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 Texas 189th District Court
Sharon Hemphill defeated Erin Lunceford in the Republican primary for Texas 189th District Court on March 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Sharon Hemphill | 55.9 | 71,891 |
| Erin Lunceford | 44.1 | 56,636 | |
| Total votes: 128,527 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
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.[4]
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."[5]
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;*[6]
- 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.[4]
*While no judge older than 74 may run for office, sitting judges who turn 75 are permitted to continue serving until their term expires.[4]
2014
See also: Texas judicial elections, 2014
Dollinger ran for election to the Harris County Civil Court at Law.
Primary: He ran unopposed in the Democratic primary on March 4, 2014.
General: He was defeated in the general election on November 4, 2014, after receiving 44.2 percent of the vote. He competed against Theresa Chang.
[1][7][8]
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Scot Dollinger completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Dollinger's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
- "You have the right to be treated fairly."
- I am a highly skilled professional with wide support in the legal community. I have done an excellent job as judge of this court by all accounts from lawyers, parties, juries and peers. I am asking for your vote to be re-elected.
- Every judge has an obligation to treat every person politely and rule promptly. I usually rule from the bench or within four days of the hearing.
In terms of our courts, I believe all judges should have an appreciation for different points of view especially in a widely diverse county like Harris County where over 140 different languages are spoken at home on any given day.
They taught me the importance of helping others along the way just like they helped me with their life's work.
I believe in being the kind of dedicate servant that Atticus Finch was full of integrity, humility, hard work and courage to do the right thing.
Elected officials must be willing to say no to special interest groups when necessary - integrity is paramount.
Elected officials should be dedicated to the notion of equality - equal protection of the laws.
Elected officials should be respectful of civil rights - constitutions were meant to promote an expansive view of civil rights.
These are general statements because as a judge, I do not make policy and am not allowed to advocate for specific policies.
Motion practice is where a party asks the court to do something like issue an injunction or order work to be done in a file or to dispose of the case without a trial based on undisputed facts and the law.
I was 7.
I have a very hard time accepting injustice - I hate to see people mistreated.
How one exercises judicial power is very important. A judge has to make sure she/he is polite to make sure the judge does not unnecessarily harm the souls of those appearing in front of the judge.
We can all do our work politely. The office of judge gives greater force to the words of a judge. So a judge has to be careful what is said to lawyers, parties and juries.
Judge Cobb demonstrated those three great qualities of all judges: integrity, humility and a strong work ethic. He also treated everyone politely and made prompt decisions. Finally, he had a sense of humor. He did not take himself too seriously though he took is work very seriously.
The Houston Bar Association has given me high marks in my rating.
I also ran on efficiency -- increasing the number of jury trials and looking for ways to be more efficient. For example, I am 100% paperless which makes it easier for me to prepare for hearings and I sign every ORDER electronically which makes it available within 24 hours.
We have made great progress in improving the 189th Civil District Court and I want to continue giving great service to the people of Harris County. I am doing an excellent job by all accounts and I would like to continue in the work. I have dedicated my entire professional life to doing civil trial work. I believe every party is entitled to a highly skilled hardworking judge to give them the very best access to the court system to which they are entitled.
Judges are neutrals and so it is important for a judge to be able to demonstrate a commitment overtime to be fair to both sides.
We need to formulate a coordinated plan to best work through the backlog.
In our very divided society, judges and juries can help bring us back together as we use rationalism and empiricism to solve problems in every case.
Not very many lawyers vote in the bar polls, the metrics are too general.
Sometimes I think lawyers rate judges without even appearing in front of them.
For example, I rule from the bench regularly and never let a ruling go past 3 or 4 days of a hearing which is a quick ruling metric and yet I get a few marks as needing improvement on rulings?
Because deep down they are good people.
The only lawyer joke I ever tell if I tell it.
I don't believe in telling jokes about the work people do for a living.
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 Texas Secretary of State, "2014 March Primary Election Candidate Filings by County (A-L)"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Official campaign website of Scot Dollinger, "Qualifications," accessed October 9, 2014
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on February 27, 2022
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 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
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "2014 March Primary Election Candidate Filings by County (M-Z)"
- ↑ Harris County Texas, "Democratic Party Cumulative Report - March 4, 2014 Primary Election," March 5, 2014 (dead link)
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
