Sarah Eckhardt (born 1968) is an American attorney and politician from the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. She is a member of the

Texas Senate The Texas Senate ( es, Senado de Texas) is the upper house of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 806,000 per co ...

and a former

county judge The term county judge is applied as a descriptor, sometimes as a title, for a person who presides over a county court. In most cases, such as in Northern Ireland and the Victorian County Courts, a county judge is a judicial officer with civil ...

for

Travis County, Texas Travis County is located in south central Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,290,188. It is the fifth-most populous county in Texas. Its county seat is Austin, the capital of Texas. The county was established in 1840 and is n ...

Early life

Eckhardt is the daughter of Bob Eckhardt, a Democratic politician who represented the

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

area in

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

from 1967 to 1981. Eckhardt attended the

High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (Kinder HSPVA, HSPVA or PVA) is a secondary school located at 790 Austin Street in the Downtown Houston, downtown district of Houston, Texas. The school is a part of the Houston Independent ...

. She appeared in the 1981 film ''

Student Bodies ''Student Bodies'' is a 1981 American parody slasher film written and directed by Mickey Rose, with an uncredited Michael Ritchie co-directing. A spoof of slasher horror films such as ''Halloween'', ''Friday the 13th'' and '' Prom Night'', '' ...

''. Eckhardt earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

in 1986, and joined the

Atlantic Theater Company Atlantic Theater Company is an Off-Broadway non-profit theater, whose mission is to produce great plays "simply and truthfully utilizing an artistic ensemble." The company was founded in 1985 by David Mamet, William H. Macy, and 30 of their act ...

Government and political career

Returning to Texas, Eckhardt worked with

Ann Richards Dorothy Ann Richards (née Willis; September 1, 1933 – September 13, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Texas from 1991 to 1995. A Democrat, she first came to national attention as the Texas State Treasurer, w ...

' 1990 gubernatorial campaign. She was a delegate to the 1992 Democratic National Convention. She became a paralegal in 1993, and enrolled at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...

in 1994, earning a

Master of Public Affairs The master of public affairs (M.P.Aff., M.P.A. or MPA) is a master-level professional degree offered in public policy schools that provides training in public policy and the operation of government. Courses required for this degree educate stud ...

and Juris Doctor. Eckhardt served as an assistant

county attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a lo ...

for

Travis County Travis County is located in south central Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,290,188. It is the fifth-most populous county in Texas. Its county seat is Austin, the capital of Texas. The county was established in 1840 and is n ...

from 1998 to 2005. Eckhardt was elected to the Travis County Commissioners Court to represent Precinct 2 in the 2006 elections. She was reelected in 2010. In 2013 she resigned her position on the Court in order to be eligible to run to succeed retiring long time

County Judge The term county judge is applied as a descriptor, sometimes as a title, for a person who presides over a county court. In most cases, such as in Northern Ireland and the Victorian County Courts, a county judge is a judicial officer with civil ...

Sam T. Biscoe. In March, 2014 she defeated Andy Brown in the Democratic primary, and that Fall she was elected Travis

. She was the first woman elected to the serve as Travis County Judge. In 2018 she was reelected to a second term as County Judge. In spring 2020, when

Kirk Watson Kirk is a Scottish and former Northern English word meaning "church". It is often used specifically of the Church of Scotland. Many place names and personal names are also derived from it. Basic meaning and etymology As a common noun, ''kirk'' ...

announced he would resign from the

, Eckhardt announced that she would run in the

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

to succeed him, and resigned as county judge in accordance with the

Texas Constitution The Constitution of the State of Texas is the document that establishes the structure and function of the government of the U.S. state of Texas, and enumerates the basic rights of the citizens of Texas. The current document was adopted on Febr ...

. She received 49.7% of the vote, just shy of the 50% required to avoid a runoff. Eddie Rodriguez, who finished in second with 34% of the vote, decided to forego the runoff, making Eckhardt the winner. Her predecessor, Sam T. Biscoe, served as interim county judge until the swearing in of Andy Brown, who was elected to succeed Eckhardt in November 2020. On December 4, 2020, Eckhardt was sanctioned by the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct (CJC) for remarks that she had made on January 24, 2017, while presiding over a meeting of the Travis County Commissioners Court, and on September 27, 2019, at the Texas Tribune Festival, during a panel discussion, recorded as:

Personal life

Eckhardt married attorney Kurt Sauer in 1998. They have two children, and divorced in 2016.

References

External links

Profile
at the

Campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eckhardt, Sarah Living people Texas lawyers County judges in Texas People from Travis County, Texas County commissioners in Texas New York University alumni University of Texas at Austin alumni Women state legislators in Texas 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Democratic Party Texas state senators 1968 births