Debra Lehrmann

Debra Ann H. Lehrmann
Texas Supreme Court Associate Justice, Place 3
Incumbent
Assumed office June 21, 2010
Appointed by	Rick Perry
Preceded by	Harriet O'Neill
State District Judge (360th Judicial District) in Tarrant County, Texas
In office 1987 – June 2010
Personal details
Born	(1956-11-16) November 16, 1956 Harris County, Texas
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Greg Lehrmann
Children	Gregory Lehrmann Jonathan Lehrmann
Residence	Colleyville Tarrant County, Texas
Alma mater	University of Texas at Austin
Occupation	Attorney
Religion	United Methodist

Debra Ann H. Lehrmann (born November 16, 1956) is one of nine members of the Texas Supreme Court, the court of last resort for civil and juvenile matters located in the capital city of Austin in the U.S. state of Texas. She is a former 360th Judicial District Court^[1] judge from Fort Worth.

Background

Justice Lehrmann (maiden name missing) is a native of Harris County. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, she graduated with high honors in 1979 from the University of Texas at Austin. In 1982, she received her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Texas School of Law. Prior to her appointment to the bench, she practiced family law with the Fort Worth law firm of Law, Snakard & Gambill. In 1990, she was named the "Outstanding Young Lawyer of Tarrant County." In 2003, she was cited by the Texas Bar Foundation for having written the "best bar journal article" of the year. An active member of the Family Law Section of the American Bar Association, she served as chair of the Section in 2010-2011 and as the Judicial Liaison to the Judicial Division of the ABA. She previously served on the Executive Committee of the Section Officers Conference of the ABA. Justice Lehrmann served on the drafting committee for the ABA Standards of Practice for Lawyers Representing a Child in Abuse and Neglect Cases.^[2] She also serves as a representative of the State of Texas on the Uniform Law Commission,^[3] which drafts uniform laws for states to consider enacting.

On the state district court, Lehrmann specialized in family issues and abuse cases. Prior to judicial office, she was in private practice and served as the lead attorney and director of the Enforcement Division of the Tarrant County Domestic Relations Office.

She and her husband, Greg Lehrmann, have two adult sons, Gregory and Jonathan Lehrmann. The family resides in Colleyville near Fort Worth in Tarrant County. They are active members of the First United Methodist Church of Colleyville.^[4]

Political life

In the general election held on November 2, 2010, Lehrmann, a Republican, won the Place 3 position on the Texas Supreme Court by defeating her Democratic opponent, Jim Sharp of Houston. Lehrmann polled 2,902,003 votes (59.9 percent) to Sharp's 1,805,837 (37.3 percent). A Libertarian, William Bryan Strange, III, polled the remaining 138,579 ballots (2.9 percent).^[5] Earlier she had won a primary runoff against Rick Green, a former member of the Texas House of Representatives, who staged an unsuccessful comeback attempt for the Place 5 seat on the court in 2016.

Lehrmann succeeded retired Justice Harriet O'Neill on the all-Republican body. When O'Neill stepped down in June 2010, with more than six months left in her six-year term, then Governor Rick Perry appointed Lehrmann to the position.^[6]

Lehrmann won renomination to a second term in the Republican primary on March 1, 2016.^[7] She defeated Judge Michael Christopher Massengale (born c. 1972) of the First Court of Appeals in Houston. Lehrmann carries the endorsement of the Houston Chronicle, which called her "a hard working and respected justice with impeccable credentials."^[8] She is also backed by the United Republicans of Harris County. In January 2016, Justice Lehrmann polled 64 percent in a Republican straw poll in Tarrant County. She also received major party endorsements in Williamson County.^[9]

With Republican primary turnout reaching a record level, Lehrmann narrowly defeated Judge Michael Christopher Massengale (born c. 1972) of the First Court of Appeals in Houston by nearly 100,000 votes, winning 1,130,137 (52.2%) to 1,034,609 (47.8%). Receiving over a million votes, Massengale made history by becoming the first Republican primary candidate to receive 1 million votes in a losing campaign.^[10]

She ran well statewide and won comfortable majorities in her home county of Tarrant and her opponent’s home county of Harris.^[12] In the November 8 general election, Lehrmann faced Mike Westergren, who polled 985,088 votes running without opposition in the Democratic primary, and won re-election with just over 55% of the vote.^[11]

References

Current statewide political officials of Texas
U.S. Senators	John Cornyn Ted Cruz
State government	Greg Abbott, Governor Dan Patrick, Lieutenant Governor & President of the Senate Carlos Cascos, Secretary of State (appointed) Ken Paxton, Attorney General Glenn Hegar, Comptroller (Treasurer equivalent) George P. Bush, Land Commissioner Sid Miller, Agriculture Commissioner Christi Craddick, Ryan Sitton, David J. Porter, Railroad Commissioners
Senate	Juan Hinojosa, President pro tempore In the Texas Senate, there are no majority or minority leaders.
House	Joe Straus, Speaker Dennis Bonnen, Speaker pro tempore In the Texas House, there are no majority or minority leaders.
Supreme Court (civil)	Nathan Hecht, Chief Justice Don Willett Debra Lehrmann John P. Devine Paul W. Green Jeff Brown Jeffrey S. Boyd Phil Johnson Eva Guzman
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals	Sharon Keller, Presiding Justice Lawrence E. Meyers Bert Richardson Kevin Patrick Yeary Cheryl Johnson Michael Keasler Barbara Hervey Elsa Alcala David Newell