| Victoria Neave | |
| State House: | Texas |
| District: | 107th |
| Term Start: | January 10, 2017 |
| Predecessor: | Kenneth Sheets |
| Birth Date: | 29 December 1980 |
| Birth Place: | Dallas, Texas, U.S. |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Residence: | Dallas |
| Education: | Tulane 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]
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]
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