Teana Watson

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Teana Watson

Democratic Party

Fort Bend County Court at Law No. 5

Tenure

2019 - Present

Term ends

2028

Years in position

6

Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

Fisk University, 1986

Law

Syracuse University College of Law, 1990

Personal

Birthplace

Houston, Texas

Profession

Judge

Contact

Personal website

Teana Watson (Democratic Party) is a judge for Number 5 of the Fort Bend County Court at Law in Texas. She assumed office on January 1, 2019. Her current term ends on December 31, 2028.

Watson (Democratic Party) ran for re-election for the Number 5 judge of the Fort Bend County Court at Law in Texas. She won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Biography

Teana Watson was born in Houston, Texas. She earned her undergraduate degree from Fisk University in 1986 and her J.D. from the Syracuse University College of Law in 1990. Her professional experience includes working as an attorney, including as an assistant district attorney in Fort Bend County, and as a judge.

Elections

2024

See also: Municipal elections in Fort Bend County, Texas (2024)

General election

General election for Fort Bend County Court at Law No. 5

Incumbent Teana Watson won election in the general election for Fort Bend County Court at Law No. 5 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Teana Watson (D)	100.0	194,103

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 194,103
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Fort Bend County Court at Law No. 5

Incumbent Teana Watson advanced from the Democratic primary for Fort Bend County Court at Law No. 5 on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Teana Watson	100.0	31,826

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 31,826
= 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.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Watson in this election.

2020

See also: Municipal elections in Fort Bend County, Texas (2020)

General election

General election for Fort Bend County Court at Law No. 5

Incumbent Teana Watson defeated Dean Hrbacek in the general election for Fort Bend County Court at Law No. 5 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Teana Watson (D)	52.9	178,291
	Submit photo	Dean Hrbacek (R)	47.1	158,491

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 336,782
= 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 Fort Bend County Court at Law No. 5

Incumbent Teana Watson advanced from the Democratic primary for Fort Bend County Court at Law No. 5 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Teana Watson	100.0	52,108

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 52,108
= 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 Fort Bend County Court at Law No. 5

Dean Hrbacek advanced from the Republican primary for Fort Bend County Court at Law No. 5 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Dean Hrbacek	100.0	46,574

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 46,574
= 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.

Endorsements

To view Watson's endorsements in the 2020 election, please click here.

2018

See also: Municipal elections in Fort Bend County, Texas (2018)

General election

General election for Fort Bend County Court at Law No. 5

Teana Watson defeated Harold Kennedy in the general election for Fort Bend County Court at Law No. 5 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Teana Watson (D)	53.5	133,520
	Submit photo	Harold Kennedy (R)	46.5	116,188

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 249,708 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= 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.

2016

See also: Texas local trial court judicial elections, 2016

Texas held general elections for local judicial offices on November 8, 2016. A primary election took place on March 1, 2016. A primary runoff election was held on May 24, 2016, for any seat where the top vote recipient did not receive a majority of the primary vote. Teana Watson ran unopposed in the Texas 400th District Court Democratic primary.

Texas 400th District Court, Democratic Primary, 2016
Candidate
Teana Watson

Incumbent Maggie Jaramillo defeated Teana Watson in the Texas 400th District Court general election.

Texas 400th District Court, General Election, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Maggie Jaramillo Incumbent	51.34%	132,255
	Democratic	Teana Watson	48.66%	125,356
Total Votes				257,611
Source: Fort Bend, Texas, "Unofficial Results," accessed November 9, 2016

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.

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."

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;*
• 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.

*While no judge older than 74 may run for office, sitting judges who turn 75 are permitted to continue serving until their term expires.

2012

See also: Texas judicial elections, 2012

Watson ran for election to the 434th District Court and was defeated by incumbent James H. Shoemake.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Teana Watson did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Teana Watson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Watson's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Native Houstonian, graduate of Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee and Syracuse College of Law J.D., Syracuse, New York. Watson started her legal career in the DA's office.

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?

• I am running for re-election to continue with some of the progressive programs I preside over, like the misdemeanor drug court and the juvenile reading program.
• I bring over 30 years of legal experience in criminal, juvenile and civil law as well as judicial experience in those areas.
• I believe the justice system should assure everyone is treated fairly regardless of their race, ethnic background or socio-economic status.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

The criminal justice system is populated with people who society has otherwise failed and it is not fair. The mentally ill and those suffering from drug addiction are unfairly represented. Moreover, the poor, African American and Latino population are overrepresented. We need to implement safeguards in the system to address this unfairness. We need to elect people and judges who recognizes these issues and work to ensure fairness and integrity in our judiciary.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

There are a combination of folks of whom I admire: Nelson Mandela, Oprah Winfrey, Barack Obama, Mother Theresa, Pope Francis, the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, - all great examples for their perseverance, spirituality and patience.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

I remember President Nixon's resignation and the watergate scandal - as it dominated the television stations during that time. I was approximately eight years old.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My very first job was working with the summer youth program at 15 years old as a child care /camp counselor/baby sitter to the younger kids. I believe my wage was $2.90 an hour.

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

2024 Elections

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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