A rainy, gloomy day in Houston doesn’t stop attorney Natalia Cornelio from being full of life and energy. In an election year unlike any other, a day filled with conference calls, meetings and campaign initiatives deserves a reset. Cornelio, poised and calm, relayed to that making history in Harris County for Latinas wasn’t a new thing, its begun to be commonplace.

Harris County saw the election of Judge A.D. Azios in 1964 and Lina Hidalgo in 2018. Azios was the first Hispanic judge in county history and Hidalgo, the first Latina and female county judge. Despite these benchmarks, true diversity has been elusive on the bench, even as the county boasts a Latinx population of nearly 45 percent. The massive underrepresentation goes even further in regards to grand jury bodies in Harris County. According to a 2014 Houston Chronicle analysis, there are “three times more adult Hispanics living in Harris County than the number who serve on grand juries, 36 percent versus 12 percent.”

Cornelio is running for the 351st Criminal Court District seat to replace Democratic Judge George Powell, a district court that presides over felony-level cases including decision-related to pretrial releases, detention, sentencing and more. If elected, she would become the first Latina out of 38 in Harris County’s criminal court system.

Becoming the first doesn’t strike fear within Cornelio. She proudly embraces her Mexican-American heritage and her extensive community roots and legal expertise. Known as “Nata” in her East End community, she dove into law to fight and represent those around her. When she recalls a childhood that at times revolved around watching her parents fight for immigrant workers’ rights, educational opportunities and more, she beams.

As a bilingual attorney for nearly 15 years, Cornelio has used her legal skills to provide a voice for the voiceless. She graduated from the University of Chicago Law and dedicated herself to criminal justice and reform. She’s spent time in numerous roles, civil rights attorney, federal public defender, Director of Criminal Justice Reform at the Texas Civil Rights Project, Director of Legal Affairs for Harris County Precinct One and served on the esteemed Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Her time in and out of courtrooms has made one thing evident to Cornelio -- the cultural gap between those in charge of dispensing the law and those on the receiving end of it. The bridge that many have declared to be equal is riddled with faults and inadequacies, ones that Cornelio has addressed and worked on tirelessly.

One immigration case in particular bristles at Cornelio, of how victory can still wield defeat for unjust reasons. Her client emerged victorious from a case, only to be immediately arrested and later deported by United States Immigration & Customs Enforcement or ICE.

“It deepened my commitment to the law and ensuring it’s distributed in a fair and humane manner,” Cornelio said.

The emerging attorney and potential Criminal Court judge sat down with Houston Style Magazine, discussing a platform that includes reducing disparities, community-centered justice, improving the courtroom process and more.

On what inspired her to go into law & transitioning to a political run

The urgency of making our justice system better and enabling it to work for more people, for starters. In the 14 years that I’ve been an attorney, I’ve seen firsthand the inequalities and just how important a judge’s role is in ensuring your legal rights and making sure that people are protected. As a child, my parents were very invested in education, so I took it very seriously. As I became more educated about the law and institutions, I noticed that although my community was often impacted, we didn’t have any lawyers in the community to help us navigate these laws. So I wanted to use my background to bridge that gap and dedicated myself to being a lawyer who’s a public servant.

On how her time as a public defender impacted her career & humanized the judicial process

As a public defender, you see the areas that our system can improve in. You see the inequities in the system. People who don’t have money, they have a different fight. People from Black and brown communities, they have a different fight ahead. If you’re a single parent taking care of a child, and you don’t have paid time off, your fight is different. Or if it’s a family sharing one car, it definitely presents a different set of circumstances.

When I was a public defender I could count on two hands how many of my clients were white. Most of my clients were minorities that couldn’t afford an attorney, and facing serious charges. You also see how people in power often don’t have the background that allows them to empathize with these kinds of situations. I’ve had to do everything from giving rides to people to give them proper clothes to wear to court.

On changing norms of who qualifies to be a judge

There’s been a shift. At one point, there were barely any federal judges who had previously been defenders. Only recently did public defense start being seen as a real qualification for a judge. It’s been a real cultural shift. The takeaway is that we want judges, we want people in power, who have actually had to witness the consequences of their judgments. To understand the impact and power this has on families. The best litigators see both sides.

Addressing Bail Reform on a felony level

You can see why we need change from looking at the Harris County Bail System. A federal judge found that it was unconstitutional before it could get changed. You had people in jail because they couldn’t afford bail for misdemeanors, people who were presumed innocent until proven guilty, and people who died in pretrial custody because of it. Bail reform is a big thing facing felony courts right now. While misdemeanor courts have changed their practices, there’s still work to be done on the federal level.

On how citizens can get involved in November

I invite everyone to educate themselves on local candidates, because that’s definitely one way to shift the culture. Equal justice under the law is not an option, it must be mandatory. Ask candidates what that means to them and ask about the historical inequalities in our system.

Something you may not know about “Nata”

I’m committed to being very intentional. Something I would also like my voters to know is that I am an Aztec dancer (also known as “concheros”) a cultural and spiritual dance rooted in prehistoric Mexico. It’s allowed me to study and connect to my roots and the land that my ancestors came from. Having a community, working towards something, culture - are all things that are important to me.

Want to learn more about Attorney Natalia Cornelio? Follow her on the campaign trail at nataliacornelio.com and online at @Nataliacorneli4.