By Sean Guay
Dauphin County, Pennsylvania — An election for the history books has unfolded in Dauphin County after voters decidedly voiced their opinion at the ballot box on Tuesday November 4, resulting in the unprecedented outcome of La Tasha Williams becoming the first Black woman ever to be elected to the bench in Dauphin County. Mrs. Williams has been elected to be a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. The county hasn’t elected a Democrat judge since Judge Jeannine Turgeon in 1991.
After several attempts this week, yesterday I finally had the opportunity to speak with newly elected Judge Williams about her victory, and it was well worth the wait.
Judge-elect Williams was born and raised in Washington, D.C. where she excelled in the JROTC program and graduated from St. John’s College High School. Williams studied Criminal Justice at Temple University, then graduated from Widener University Commonwealth Law School. She previously served as Assistant District Attorney in Franklin County.
When I interviewed Judge-elect Williams about her historic election victory, she was overjoyed with excitement and expressed her gratitude towards the people of Dauphin County, saying she is still “on a cloud,” and has been overwhelmed by the positive response to her election. She said she was on the edge of her seat on Tuesday night, awaiting the election results, and described a surreal experience of realizing she won this historic election.
In the days following the election, she said her phone notifications have been queuing faster than she can respond to everyone. Judge-elect Williams told me that she is eager to serve and aid her colleagues on the bench. She also described her intention to empower youth in Dauphin County to overcome the desire for instant gratification, and by focusing on “hard work, dedication, determination, and commitment,” they can achieve their dreams.
You can read an excerpt from our interview below:
Sean Guay: Good afternoon your honor, and congratulations on being elected to the bench in Dauphin County. How are you doing?
Judge Williams: Good afternoon Mr. Guay, and thank you for the opportunity to interview. I’m just overwhelmed with gratitude that voters came out, exercised their right to vote and chose me to be one of their next judges. I don’t take it lightly. I think I will make the electorate proud. I’m still sort of on this cloud that it happened, after having faced defeat twice previously, I was waiting on the edge of my seat on Tuesday night, sort of in this state of surrealness that this is actually going to happen. I’m so grateful.
Sean Guay: I’m very excited for you as well and can you believe this election was historic?
Judge Williams: I knew it would be, but I don’t think I fully recognized what that would actually look like in the aftermath.
Sean Guay: What do people admire about you? What message do you have for youth in Dauphin County?
Judge Williams: I think people admire my persistence and tenacity, and that is something that I emphasize; never giving up!
Something delayed is not necessarily a denial, and that we have to work hard to achieve our goals. Working with children, I see a lot of the squabbles that sometimes turn into incidents of delinquent acts. Sometimes its rooted in this idea of immediate gratification, and that’s just not reality, so I’m hoping that our young residents can see that with hard work, dedication, determination, and commitment they can achieve whatever it is you want to achieve in life.
Sean Guay: What is your priority for Dauphin County?
Judge Williams: I’m very eager to serve and aid my colleagues on the bench.
TO BE CONTINUED..
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