Voters ousted Bexar County Judge Rosie Speedlin Gonzalez while she faces criminal charges for allegedly ordering a defense attorney to be handcuffed.
Speedlin Gonzalez lost her reelection bid on March 3 in the Democratic primary for Bexar County Court at Law 13, according to KSAT. Alicia “Ali” Perez, a longtime attorney, beat the incumbent judge by 65% to 35%.
🚨 BREAKING: Bexar County TX's first openly gay judge Rosie Speedlin-Gonzalez just LOST her reelection bid after being indicted for abusing her authority by handcuffing a defense attorney
GOOD RIDDANCE! 👋🏻
She was also embattled in keeping pride flags and LGBTQ merch all over… pic.twitter.com/e3M9hmCWHD
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) March 6, 2026
As The Dallas Express reported, Speedlin Gonzalez was booked in the Bexar County Jail on January 29 for unlawful restraint by a judicial officer and official oppression. The Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct later suspended her without pay on February 5 pending resolution of the charges, according to KSAT.
The charges stem from a conflict with defense attorney Elizabeth Russell. During a motion to revoke probation hearing, the defendant reportedly pleaded “true” to an allegation. Russell then requested time to confer with her client, whom one source described as functioning intellectually below average.
Prosecutors claim Speedlin Gonzalez then ordered the attorney to be handcuffed and confined to the jury box, restricting her movement and liberty during the hearing.
Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales recused his office from the case in September 2025. District Attorney Brian Cromeens, who oversees DeWitt and Goliad counties, was assigned as special prosecutor on October 1, 2025.
Speedlin Gonzalez first took office in 2018, and her term expires in December 2026, according to Ballotpedia. Her soon-to-be replacement, Perez, said on Facebook she ran because “real change is necessary.”
“Votes matter. But so does building systems that support due process, inclusion, accessibility and dignity, such that no matter who sits on the bench we all have a better chance at the best justice we can obtain in an imperfect system,” Perez said. “I pledged to work for that, win or lose, and that work continues now.”
Speedlin Gonzalez has drawn prior national criticism for disputes over judicial conduct.
In 2020, Speedlin Gonzalez said she was ordered to remove a rainbow LGBT pride flag and other pride items from her courtroom following a complaint with the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct, as The Dallas Express reported. At the time, she claimed she was being targeted as the county’s first openly gay judge.
“It felt like they were trying to shame me and bully me into not expressing who I truly am,” she said to NBC at the time.
Also, that year, the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct issued a warning against Speedlin-Gonzalez, as The Dallas Express reported. She allegedly made at least eight Facebook posts congratulating a dozen attorneys who won verdicts in her courtroom.
Then in 2022, Speedlin-Gonzalez paid a $2,475 civil penalty after TSA agents found a loaded handgun in her luggage at San Antonio International Airport. At the time, she dismissed it as an oversight.
