Fort Bend County
District Judge, 240th Judicial District
Surendran K. Pattel
Democratic Incumbent- On ballot as
- SURENDRAN K. PATTEL
- Current role
- Judge, 240th District Court (elected November 2022; in office since January 1, 2023)
- Background
- Law degree, University of Calicut (1995)
- Master's degree in international law, University of Houston Law Center (per the court's website)
- Licensed to practice law in Texas since November 2009
- Born and raised in Kerala, India
- Experience
- Defeated Edward Krenek in the November 2022 election, 121,762 votes to 121,568
- Defeated incumbent Judge Frank Fraley in the March 2022 Democratic primary
- Before taking the bench, founded and ran his own practice, the PKS Law Firm (per his Ballotpedia survey)
- Ran for 505th District Court (2020); lost the Democratic primary runoff to Kali Morgan
- Democratic primary (March 3, 2026): unopposed
- Top priorities
- "I look to the legal text itself and try to apply it on the situation at hand. I do not embrace originalism; nor do I believe in legislating from the bench."
- "As an elected public servant, I remain determined to run my courtroom in as efficient a manner as possible."
- "A judge must be ever-vigilant regarding the rights and dignity of all who appear before him/her."
- Tidbits
- Judicial philosophy: In a 2026 Ballotpedia survey: "I look to the legal text itself and try to apply it on the situation at hand. I do not embrace originalism; nor do I believe in legislating from the bench."
- Court administration: In a 2026 Ballotpedia survey: "I am especially proud that my hard-working staff and I have eliminated the onerous case backlog that I inherited."
- Endorsements
- Fort Bend Business Coalition
- Texas Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation
- Black Richmond Rosenberg Area Democrats (listed by campaign)
- Asian Texans for Justice Action Fund (listed by campaign)
- Asian American Democrats of Texas (listed by campaign)
Show all 7
- Texas AFL-CIO (listed by campaign)
- Houston LGBTQ+ Political Caucus (listed by campaign)
- Campaign website
- judgesurendran.com
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