Zachary Gibson
Zachary Gibson (Republican Party) ran for election for judge of the Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 4 in Texas. He lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Gibson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.
Elections
2022
See also: Municipal elections in Harris County, Texas (2022)
General election
General election for Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 4
Incumbent Shannon Baldwin defeated Zachary Gibson in the general election for Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 4 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Shannon Baldwin (D) | 50.7 | 535,821 | |
| Zachary Gibson (R) | 49.3 | 521,359 | ||
| Total votes: 1,057,180 | ||||
| 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. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 4
Incumbent Shannon Baldwin advanced from the Democratic primary for Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 4 on March 1, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Shannon Baldwin | 100.0 | 137,462 | |
| Total votes: 137,462 | ||||
| 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 Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 4
Zachary Gibson advanced from the Republican primary for Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 4 on March 1, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Zachary Gibson | 100.0 | 132,763 | |
| Total votes: 132,763 | ||||
| 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. | ||||
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Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Zachary Gibson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Gibson's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Since 2016, I have had the privilege of serving as a prosecutor with the Harris County DA’s Office. As a prosecutor, I have handled many cases in Texas’s courts of appeals. I have developed a vast knowledge of criminal law, and I will make use of that as a judge. I am running for judge because I want to make the criminal justice system in Harris County better. Current judges have put the pursuit of bail “reform” and showing empathy to criminals over public safety and the best interests of our community. If elected, I will always follow the law. The people of Harris County are hard-working, welcoming, and law abiding, and it has been a privilege to make this my home. You represent the best of America, and you deserve better than the current judiciary. Being a judge who serves you would be the honor of my life. I ask for your vote!
- Community safety will always be considered when making any bail determinations if I become judge. State statute requires this, and if a judge does not do this, then he is breaking the law.
- A punishment should fit the crime. “Punishment” has become a dirty word for some, but the law fully allows for this. For first offenders and those with mitigating factors, punishment might want to focus more on reforming a person to give him a second chance. However, sometimes a punishment will be made purposefully unpleasant for an offender—usually a repeat offender or someone who has shown a disdain for others’ safety. This is done so that he and others will be incentivized not to do it again, and so that he will feel society’s disapproval toward him for what he did. I will decide which punishment is most appropriate from the full range of punishment on a case-by-case basis.
- Judges are to apply the law. The law does have some value judgments, such as the fact that community safety should be considered in bail determinations. These values are supplied by statute or by caselaw, not sociology or shifting notions of what the law ought to be. Most of what a judge does is to apply the law. If the State has a better legal argument, then the State wins. If the defense has the better legal argument, then he wins. The courtroom is not the place for a judge to put his thumb on the scale so that a judge achieves his desired result. If I win, County Court-at-Law 4 will be a court of law—nothing more, and certainly nothing less.
Courts—and especially criminal courts—should be seen as serious, solemn places by everyone in our community. Law-abiding citizens, prosecutors, crime victims, and defendants should see courts as places where serious and lawful consequences are on the table for those who break the law.
Criminal defendants should also view courts as places where their rights can be vindicated. Defendants should feel free to plead not guilty and put the State to its burden of proof. A defendant should not be required to wait years for a trial.
When a trial happens, the State should be allowed to introduce competent, relevant, and legally obtained evidence of a defendant’s guilt without the Court working to undermine the State’s case. Defendants should also feel free to present relevant, competent evidence in their defense. The jury then decides.
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
2022 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 4 |
Footnotes
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State of Texas Austin (capital) |
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