Victoria Neave

Victoria Neave (born December 29, 1980) is an American attorney and a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 107 in Dallas County, Texas. In the general election held on November 8, 2016, she unseated Republican Representative Kenneth Sheets in the most expensive Texas House race of the 2016 cycle.[1] Neave was sworn into office on January 10, 2017.[2][3]

Victoria Neave
Member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 107th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 10, 2017
Preceded by	Kenneth Sheets
Personal details
Born	December 29, 1980 Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Residence	Dallas
Education	Tulane University Dallas College University of Texas, Dallas (BA) Texas Southern University (JD)

During the 2017 Legislative Session, State Rep. Victoria Neave attended Catholic mass at the Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Dallas, asked the priest for a blessing and received Holy Communion as she started a spiritual fast to oppose an anti “sanctuary city” bill that the Texas House was going to debate.[4]

Neave was arrested in June 2017 on a Driving While Intoxicated charge after she allegedly crashed her BMW into a tree within district 107 at 11:30 p.m. She allegedly repeatedly told arresting officers that "I love you and I want to fight for you, and I invoke the Fifth Amendment."[5] 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."[5] As a local attorney and legislator, concerns were expressed at favoritism by police and prosecutors towards Neave.[6] In its 2018 endorsement of Neve, the Dallas Morning News editorial board wrote that "She accepted full responsibility and didn't use her role as an elected official to try to get out of trouble."[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]

Neave was selected as one of seventeen speakers to jointly deliver the keynote address at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.[9]

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. "Texas lawmaker on four-day hunger strike in protest of 'sanctuary city' bill". Washington Post. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
5. 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.
6. "Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down". Houston Chronicle. June 9, 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
7. "We recommend Victoria Neave for Texas House District 107". Dallas News. October 11, 2018. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
8. "Election Returns". Texas Secretary of State. November 6, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
9. "Democrats Unveil A New Kind of Convention Keynote". 2020 Democratic National Convention. August 16, 2020. Retrieved August 16, 2020.