Prior to her election to the Texas Senate, Sarah Eckhardt served as the Travis County Judge. She attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston and appeared in the 1981 film Student Bodies. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater from New York University in 1986. She worked on the 1990 gubernatorial campaign of Democrat Ann Richards, then hearted her J.D. and masters in Public Affairs. Eckhardt was elected to the Travis County County Commissioners Court (Precinct 2) in the 2006 and was re-elected in 2010.