Dinesh Singhal

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Dinesh Singhal

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

March 3, 2020

Education

Law

University of Houston Law Center, 1997

Personal

Profession

Attorney

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

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Personal Facebook

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Dinesh Singhal (Democratic Party) ran for election for the Place 3 judge of the Texas First District Court of Appeals. He lost in the Democratic primary on March 3, 2020.

Singhal completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Dinesh Singhal earned an LL.M. from Delhi University in 1992 and a J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center in 1997. His career experience includes working as an attorney. Singhal's community involvement includes working as the advisory director for the Rice University Center for the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality; the ex-officio director of the Houston Bar Association; and the president of the Harris County Democratic Lawyers Association.

Elections

2020

See also: Texas intermediate appellate court elections, 2020

General election

General election for Texas First District Court of Appeals Place 3

Veronica Rivas-Molloy defeated incumbent Russell Lloyd in the general election for Texas First District Court of Appeals Place 3 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Veronica Rivas-Molloy (D)	50.8	1,171,700
		Russell Lloyd (R)	49.2	1,136,786

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,308,486
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Texas First District Court of Appeals Place 3

Veronica Rivas-Molloy defeated Dinesh Singhal and Jim Sharp in the Democratic primary for Texas First District Court of Appeals Place 3 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Veronica Rivas-Molloy	51.5	184,232
		Dinesh Singhal	28.2	100,888
		Jim Sharp	20.4	72,911

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 358,031
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Keith Houston (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Texas First District Court of Appeals Place 3

Incumbent Russell Lloyd advanced from the Republican primary for Texas First District Court of Appeals Place 3 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Russell Lloyd	100.0	281,836

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 281,836
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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.

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Dinesh Singhal completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Singhal's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

As a lawyer, I have tried more cases (28) and handled more appeals (19) than any of my primary opponents. I am also the only candidate in my primary who is:

• Board Certified in Civil Trial Law • Holding two law degrees, J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center, and LL.B from Delhi University • Licensed to practice law in Texas, New York, and California • Rated Super Lawyer (2017-19) by Super Lawyer Magazine

I have held several leadership positions: • Elected as the Director of State Bar of Texas • President, Harris County Democratic Lawyers' Association • Director, Texas Association of Civil Trial & Appellate Specialists

What really distinguishes my candidacy from my opponents is my 20+ years of civil rights work in promoting democratic values. I have worked for the American Civil Liberties Union as a UHLC Dean Public Interest Fellow. I have served on the boards of Houston's Iconic interfaith institution, Rothko Chapel, and on the board of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. I am currently serving on the advisory board of Rice University's Center for Studies on Women, Gender, & Sexuality. At Rice University, I have also sponsored Balkishan Award for the last five years, an annual award given to a student for exploring religion's impact on Women and social justice issues. I have been a pro-bono counsel for Houston Interfaith Worker Justice Center assisting undocumented workers to recover wages from unscrupulous employers.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• I will refuse to accept campaign funds from litigants, attorneys or law firms who are involved in any matter on my docket.
• I will not seek a judicial office again if the Houston Bar Association lawyers' overall "Excellent" and "Very good" rating for me does not exceed an average of 70%.
• Model Immigrant - Model Citizen

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

To ensure independent, competent, and honorable judges, we need to ensure that the judges are not beholden to donors. I will support restrictions on political campaign monies from litigants or law firms who have cases in a particular court. I would also support higher qualification standards for judges and will support performance review as a basis for reelection.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Mahatma Gandhi. I follow Gandhi's message of non-violence and satyagraha for civil disobedience against all forms of injustice.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Separation of church and state. Equal access, justice, and due process to all.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

The attacks of September 11 were the most significant historical event of my lifetime.

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.

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