Running for Office: 1st Circuit Court of Appeal
Judge Trudy M. White, of the 19th Judicial District Court, is running for the state 1st Circuit Court of Appeal seat held by Judge Mike McDonald.
White is a Democrat. McDonald, a Republican, is running for re-election.
The qualifying period for the Nov. 6 election is Wednesday through Friday.
White notes that of the 12 judges on the Baton Rouge-based 1st Circuit, three are female and one is black.
“I am running to help reflect the diversity of thought within the First Circuit and to serve all the people of the district, as it is under represented with women and African-Americans,” she said in a written statement of candidacy.
The election district for which White is running — 2nd District, Subdistrict 1, Division B — encompasses all of East Baton Rouge Parish, excluding Scotlandville, Southern University, downtown Baton Rouge and LSU.
The district also includes Zachary, Baker and Central.
White cites her extensive legal and community experience.
White had been a Baton Rouge City Court judge for eight years when she defeated then-incumbent state District Judge Curtis Calloway, also a Democrat, for a seat on the 19th JDC in the fall of 2008.
White said she is acutely aware of the issues facing the community, and said as a seasoned and well-qualified jurist she will bring a balanced approach to the resolution of legal issues.
Some of the issues before the 1st Circuit may include criminal/civil matters, education, business, health care, taxation, labor, energy, environment, retirement and transportation.
White is a graduate of McKinley High School, Howard University and LSU Law Center.
She is the mother of Ashley Elizabeth, a 2012 Howard University summa cum laude graduate in finance.
The 1st Circuit has jurisdiction over 16 parishes in southeast Louisiana: Ascension, Assumption, East and West Baton Rouge, East and West Feliciana, Iberville, Lafourche, Livingston, Pointe Coupee, St. Helena, St. Mary, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne and Washington.