I met Steven Kirkland in 1983 when he was on a campaign staff for a Houston City Council candidate. At that time he had no plans to go into law. He is now running for a state civil district judgeship in Harris County, the Houston area.
Harris County is said to have the largest ballot in the country. There are many, many judgeships and these are elective offices, on a partisan basis. It is very difficult for voters to make informed choices. Active Democrats like me at least have the opportunity to meet the candidates, especially when these candidates are gathering signatures for their nominating petitions, which they need to get on the ballot.
I am campaigning for him as a volunteer. I am not a lawyer.
Steven Kirkland got his law degree in 1990 at the University of Houston Law School. He had gotten a BA in 1982 at Rice University.
He was appointed a municipal judge in 2001; this appointment is made by the Houston Mayor. As a municipal judge he started a court for the homeless. Persons without a home or job often run afoul of the law, such as when they try to use public transportation and are broke. The City is obligated to uphold the laws, but the homeless court can provide ways to work off fines, and provide more humane ways to deal with situations. For his work he recieved in 2006 the Government Friend of the Homeless Award from the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston.
Kirkland presided over this court until 2008, when he was elected a state district judge, namely to the 215th Civil District Court, a state court that is a trial court for major cases. He has been rated well by the Houston Bar Association both in 2007 and 2011. He had to run for re-election in 2012. A certain lawyer had a grudge against him for a ruling that reduced the money this lawyer would get in a case. The latter recruited and donated money to a primary opponent. Kirkland got the endorsed by many Democratic clubs, but lost the primary. His opponent brought up a drunk driving conviction from 1984.
Kirkland has laid his cards on the table about being a recovering alcoholic. One thing I like about Steve is his clarity when talking about law. He gets down to the basics. I do not believe he would be so clear-headed if he were secretly drinking.
He has taught as an adjunct professor in the University of Houston School of Communications.
When he left the district Court he was appointed assistant City Attorney, City of Houston.
I attended his investiture in 2009. When he introduced his life partner, another male, there was applause, from people including leaders in the Harris County Democratic Party.
Now he is running for 113th Civil District Court, a similar court. He has won the Democratic primary. Like many other judges In Harris County he is running countywide. In recent years both Democrats and Republicans have won countywide races, but with 51 % or less. It hinges very much on how well Democratic voters turn out. Houston has low voter turnouts and that helps Republicans. It will depend a lot on how many people go vote for Wendy Davis.
His primary was one of the few significant contested Democratic primaries in Harris County this year and he won with 51 %. The same lawyer had recruited and financed another primary opponent. It is important for us to win this race to say no to lawyers who would try to buy judges who would bend to their will.
I attended a fundraiser for Steven Kirkland in which T-shirts were passed out. I have encouraged others to wear T-shirts for several candidates. Recently I called a KPFT program and said I was wondering why I could not get more people to wear T-shirts. It was suggested that people were worried about right-wing terrorists out there who would be armed and dangerous. On the contrary, I have gotten compliments out in public on my wearing T-shirts, no static. Surely this is a less expensive way to advertise a candidate than television. Please do wear T-shirts for your Democratic candidates; show the public someone is supporting them. I do not know whether there are still Steven Kirkland T-shirts in stock but you can ask from his contact page.
The first day of early voting is Monday, October 20, and I plan to vote the first day.