Who is running for Civil District Judge, 189th District Court in 2026?

Private citizen (attorney)

Vance Christopher is a Houston-area attorney and the Republican nominee for judge of the 189th District Court in Harris County, running against incumbent Tamika Craft¹². He earned his law degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1981 and served in the U.S. Navy¹.

• Attorney¹
• JD, University of Texas at Austin, 1981; BA, Davidson College, 1978¹
• U.S. Navy, 1980 to 1981¹
• No prior judicial office found in the sources reviewed
• Christopher was unopposed in the March 3, 2026 Republican primary for the 189th District Court¹. No prior judicial office was found.

Judge, 189th District Court, Harris County

Tamika "Tami" Craft has been judge of the 189th District Court in Harris County since January 2023¹. The Houston Bar Association's court directory lists her as Tamika Craft-Demming². She is seeking reelection against Republican nominee Vance Christopher¹³.

• Judge, 189th District Court (Civil), Harris County, since January 1, 2023¹²
• Defeated incumbent Scot Dollinger and Lema Mousilli in the 2022 Democratic primary, then won the November 2022 general election over Erin Lunceford, 50.1% to 49.9%; took office January 1, 2023¹. She previously ran for the Fourteenth Court of Appeals, Place 7, in 2020 and lost to Ken Wise, 49.6% to 50.4%¹. Unopposed in the March 3, 2026 Democratic primary¹.