Victoria Neave
Member of the Texas House of Representatives
from the 107th district
Assumed office
January 10, 2017
Preceded byKenneth Sheets
Personal details
Born (1980-12-29) December 29, 1980 (age 43)
Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
ResidenceDallas
EducationTulane University
Dallas College
University of Texas, Dallas (BA)
Texas Southern University (JD)

Victoria Neave Criado (born December 29, 1980) is an American attorney and politician serving as a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 107 in Dallas County. She unseated Republican incumbent Kenneth Sheets in the most expensive Texas House race of the 2016 cycle.[1][2][3]

Texas House of Representatives

Neave was named the House Democratic Caucus Freshman of the Year.[4] During her first session, she passed a law to allow "Texans applying for or renewing their driver’s license the option to donate $1 or more toward rape kit testing."[5] As of June 2018, the program had "collected more than $234,956."[5]

Neave was arrested in June 2017 on a Driving While Intoxicated charge after she crashed her BMW into a tree and repeatedly told arresting officers that "I love you and I want to fight for you, and I invoke the Fifth Amendment."[6] Neave said after her arrest that she was "deeply sorry, and will accept the consequences of my actions, and will work to make this right."[6] As a local attorney and legislator, concerns were expressed at favoritism by police, prosecutors and local media towards Neave.[7]

Neave was reelected to her second term in the general election held on November 6, 2018, when she defeated the Republican candidate, Deanna Maria Metzger, 28,923 (57.1 percent) to 21,770 (42.9 percent).[8]

In 2019, Neave passed omnibus legislation to tackle the backlog of thousands of untested rape kits in Texas called the Lavinia Masters Act, or House Bill 8, which also included $50 million from the Texas budget.[9][10] As of 2021, there was an 80% reduction in the rape kit backlog.[11] Neave has also "[led] the charge at the Texas Capitol to fight these arrangements [nondisclosure agreements] through a bill that would void contractual agreements that prevent employees from notifying law enforcement or regulatory agencies about sexual harassment or sexual assault in the workplace."[12]

Neave was selected as one of seventeen speakers to jointly deliver the keynote address at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.[13] In 2021, Neave while only in her "third term, was appointed to a coveted committee chair position in the Texas House" and is only the sixth Latina in Texas History to chair a committee in the Texas House of Representatives.[14] She was appointed as Chair of the Texas House Committee on Juvenile Justice and Family Issues.[15] In 2023, Victoria Neave Criado was appointed as Chair of the Texas House Committee on County Affairs.[16]

References

  1. ^ Holter, Rick; Contreras, Gus (November 11, 2016). "Dallas' Victoria Neave On Winning An Election On A Challenging Night For Democrats". KERA News. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  2. ^ Formby, Brandon (November 8, 2016). "Neave ousts Sheets as Anderson hangs on in Dallas County". Texas Tribune. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  3. ^ Watkins, Matthew; Swaby, Aliyya; Johnathan, Silver (January 10, 2017). "Texas lawmakers focus on friendship on legislative session's first day". Texas Tribune. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  4. ^ Weston, Shawn (May 30, 2017). "Neave named Freshman of the Year". Dallas Voice. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
  5. ^ a b Samuels, Alex (June 8, 2018). "After crowdfunding law, Texans raise nearly $250,000 toward testing rape kits". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
  6. ^ a b Farmer, Liz; Rajwani, Naheed (June 7, 2017). "I disappointed myself, state Rep. Victoria Neave says after DWI arrest". Dallas Morning News. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  7. ^ "Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down". Houston Chronicle. June 9, 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  8. ^ "Election Returns". Texas Secretary of State. November 6, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
  9. ^ Novack, Sophie (September 3, 2019). "Thousands of Rape Kits in Texas Went Untested For Years. Lavinia Masters Is Ending That". The Texas Observer. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
  10. ^ "There's been an 80% reduction in rape kit backlog in Texas, state rep says". wfaa.com. March 21, 2021. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
  11. ^ "There's been an 80% reduction in rape kit backlog in Texas, state rep says". wfaa.com. March 21, 2021. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
  12. ^ "Dallas lawmaker targeting shady nondisclosure agreements to protect sexual harassment victims". Dallas News. April 1, 2019. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
  13. ^ "Democrats Unveil A New Kind of Convention Keynote". 2020 Democratic National Convention. August 16, 2020. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  14. ^ "A Dallas Democrat becomes only the sixth Latina to chair a committee in the Texas House". wfaa.com. February 13, 2021. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
  15. ^ "A Dallas Democrat becomes only the sixth Latina to chair a committee in the Texas House". wfaa.com. February 13, 2021. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
  16. ^ Representatives, Texas House of. "Texas House of Representatives". www.house.texas.gov. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
Texas House of Representatives Preceded byKenneth Sheets Member of the Texas House of Representativesfrom the 107th district 2017–present Incumbent Party political offices Preceded byElizabeth Warren Keynote Speaker of the Democratic National Convention 2020 Served alongside: Stacey Abrams, Raumesh Akbari, Colin Allred, Brendan Boyle, Yvanna Cancela, Kathleen Clyde, Nikki Fried, Robert Garcia, Malcolm Kenyatta, Marlon Kimpson, Conor Lamb, Mari Manoogian, Jonathan Nez, Sam Park, Denny Ruprecht, Randall Woodfin Most recent


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