Eva Guzman

Eva Martinez Guzman
Texas Supreme Court Justice, Place 9
Incumbent
Assumed office October 8, 2009
Appointed by	Rick Perry
Preceded by	Scott Andrew Brister
Personal details
Born	January 12, 1961 Chicago, Cook County Illinois
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican
Alma mater	Austin High School in Houston, Texas University of Houston South Texas College of Law
Occupation	Attorney; Judge

Eva Martinez Guzman (born January 12, 1961, in Chicago, Illinois) is a member of the Texas Supreme Court, the body of final appeal in civil and juvenile law in Texas. She was appointed to Place 9 on the court by Governor Rick Perry in the fall of 2009 to fill the seat vacated by Justice Scott Brister, who resigned with more than a year left in his term.

Background

Guzman is one of seven children of Mexican immigrant parents. She was reared in Houston, where she graduated there in 1979 from the predominantly Hispanic Stephen F. Austin High School.^[1] A resident of Cypress in Harris County, she is the first Hispanic woman to serve on the high court. Another Hispanic, David Medina, was elected to the court in 2006. Guzman was recognized by the Hispanic National Bar Association as "Latina Judge of the Year" and as "2009 Judge of the Year" by the Mexican American Bar Association of Texas Foundation. At the time of the appointment, Perry called Guzman a "principled conservative with an "unmatched work ethic."^[1][2]

Political life

All nine Supreme Court justices are Republican. Guzman won the GOP nomination for the seat in the primary election held on March 2, 2010. She defeated Judge Rose Vela of the 13th Court of Appeals, 721,456 (65.3 percent) to 384,135 (34.7 percent).^[3] In the November 2 general election, Guzman defeated Democrat Blake H. Bailey.^[4]

Prior to her high court appointment, Guzman was an associate justice on the 14th Court of Appeals in Houston, where she ruled on thousands of civil and criminal appeals and wrote hundreds of published opinions. She is also an adjunct professor at the University of Houston Law Center. As of 2009, she had served for more than a decade as the first Hispanic female appointed and then elected to both the Harris County Family Court and the 14th Court of Appeals.^[2]

Guzman has also been named "Appellate Judge of the Year" by the Houston Police Officers Union. She received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Houston and a law degree from South Texas College of Law in Houston. She is married to Houston Police Sergeant Antonio Ray "Tony" Guzman (born 1958), and the couple has a daughter, Melanie Alexis.^[2]

In the Republican primary on March 1, 2016, Judge Guzman gained re-nomination to a second six-year term by defeating Joe Pool, the son of a former U.S. representative. She received 1,269,231 votes (59.2 percent) to Pool's 874,128 (40.8 percent).^[5] In the November 8 general election, Guzman faced Savannah Robinson, who polled 989,444 votes running unopposed in the Democratic judicial primary, and won re-election.^[6]

References

1. "Highest state court to get first Latina", Laredo Morning Times, October 9, 2009, p. 6A
2. "Perry Appoints Historic 1st: Hispanic Female to Supreme Court of Texas". texasinsider.org. Retrieved December 22, 2009.
3. "Republican primary election returns, March 2, 2010". sos.state.tx.us. Retrieved March 3, 2010.
4. Mary Alice Robbins and Miriam Rozen, "Republicans Rule: GOP Holds on to High Courts, Sweeps Harris County Judicial Races", The Texas Lawyer, Nov. 8, 2010.
5. "Republican primary returns". Texas Secretary of State. March 2, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
6. "2016 General Election - RESULTS". enrpages.sos.state.tx.us. Retrieved 2016-11-09.