Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
Texas intermediate appellate court elections, 2020
| 2020 State Judicial Elections | |
|---|---|
2021 »
« 2019
| |
 | |
| Overview | |
| Supreme Courts Overview | |
| Appellate Courts Overview | |
| View judicial elections by state: | |
The terms of 24 Texas Courts of Appeals justices expired on December 31, 2020. The 24 seats were up for partisan election on November 3, 2020. A primary was scheduled for March 3, 2020, and a primary runoff was scheduled for July 14, 2020. A full term on the court is six years.
Election procedure changes in 2020
Ballotpedia provided comprehensive coverage of how election dates and procedures changed in 2020. While the majority of changes occurred as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes occurred for other reasons.
Texas modified its absentee/mail-in voting, candidate filing, and early voting procedures for the November 3, 2020, general election as follows:
- Absentee/mail-in voting: Local election officials could not reject an absentee ballot due to a perceived signature mismatch unless the voter was given a pre-rejection notice of this finding and a "meaningful opportunity to cure his or her ballot's rejection." Return locations for absentee/mail-in ballots were limited to one per county.
- Candidate filing procedures: The petition deadline for independent candidates for non-presidential office was extended to August 13, 2020.
- Early voting: Early voting began on October 13, 2020.
For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.
Candidates and election results
First District Court of Appeals
General election
Texas First District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Place 3 |
Russell Lloyd (i) |
|
|
| Place 5 |
Terry Adams (i) |
|
|
Primary runoff election
Texas First District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Place 5 |
|
||
Primary election
Texas First District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Place 3 |
Did not make the ballot: |
|
|
| Place 5 |
|
|
|
Second District Court of Appeals
General election
Texas Second District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Place 2 |
|
|
|
| Place 6 |
|
|
|
| Place 7 |
|
||
Primary runoff election
Texas Second District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Place 7 |
|
||
Primary election
Texas Second District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Place 2 |
The Democratic primary was canceled. |
|
|
| Place 6 |
|
|
|
| Place 7 |
The Democratic primary was canceled. |
|
|
Third District Court of Appeals
General election
Texas Third District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Chief Justice |
Jeff L. Rose (i) |
|
|
Primary election
Texas Third District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Chief Justice |
|
|
|
Fourth District Court of Appeals
General election
Texas Fourth District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Chief Justice |
|
||
Primary election
Texas Fourth District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Chief Justice |
|
||
Fifth District Court of Appeals
General election
Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Place 3 |
David Evans (i) |
|
|
| Place 6 |
Did not make the ballot: |
|
|
| Place 8 |
Bill Whitehill (i) |
|
|
Replacement candidate
David Bridges (R) was running for re-election to the Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals when he died on July 25, 2020.[1] He had advanced from the Republican primary on March 3, 2020. Because of the timing of his death, Republican Party precinct chairs from his district were permitted to nominate a replacement candidate to the ballot in the general election on November 3, 2020.[2] The local Republican Party precinct chairs selected John Browning (R) to replace Bridges on the general election ballot.[3]
Primary election
Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Place 3 |
|
|
|
| Place 6 |
|
|
|
| Place 8 |
|
|
|
Replacement candidate
David Bridges (R) was running for re-election to the Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals when he died on July 25, 2020.[4] He had advanced from the Republican primary on March 3, 2020. Because of the timing of his death, Republican Party precinct chairs from his district were permitted to nominate a replacement candidate to the ballot in the general election on November 3, 2020.[5] The local Republican Party precinct chairs selected John Browning (R) to replace Bridges on the general election ballot.[6]
Sixth District Court of Appeals
General election
Texas Sixth District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Place 3 |
|
|
|
Primary election
Texas Sixth District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Place 3 |
The Democratic primary was canceled. |
|
|
Seventh District Court of Appeals
General election
Texas Seventh District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Chief Justice |
|
|
|
| Place 4 |
|
Did not make the ballot: |
|
Primary election
Texas Seventh District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Chief Justice |
The Democratic primary was canceled. |
|
|
| Place 4 |
The Democratic primary was canceled. |
|
|
Voided primary
A primary for Texas' Seventh District Court of Appeals Place 4 special election was originally scheduled for and held on March 3, 2020. Because the race was left off of the primary ballots provided by the Texas Secretary of State office to the Republican Party county chairs of Cochran and Collingsworth counties, the Republican primary voters in those counties were not able to vote in the primary contest. In the March 3 primary, incumbent Lawrence Doss received 45,676 votes and candidate Steven Denny received 45,973 votes, with Denny winning by a margin of 297 votes.[7][8]
On March 12, 2020, Doss filed a challenge to the election results in Potter County. The trial court held that due to the Secretary of State election official's mistake, eligible voters in the affected counties were prevented from voting and the "true outcome" of the primary election could not be certain.[7]
On April 1, 2020, the trial court entered its final judgment that the March 3 primary election be voided and that candidates Doss and Denny must have a do-over election in the entire 46-county area served by the Seventh District Court of Appeals.[7]
On appeal, the Second District Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling of the trial court, holding that the number of disenfranchised voters exceeded the margin of difference between the votes cast in the primary. Because the trial court could not make certain the election's true outcome, the statutory remedy would be to void the election and order a new one. The new primary election was ordered to take place on July 14, 2020, the same day as the Republican Party primary runoff election.[7]
Eighth District Court of Appeals
General election
Texas Eighth District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Chief Justice |
Jeff Alley (i) |
|
|
Primary election
Texas Eighth District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Chief Justice |
|
|
|
Ninth District Court of Appeals
General election
Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Chief Justice |
|
||
Primary runoff election
Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Chief Justice |
|
||
Primary election
Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Chief Justice |
The Democratic primary was canceled. |
Colleen Cordts Rice |
|
Tenth District Court of Appeals
General election
Texas Tenth District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Place 2 |
|
||
| Place 3 |
|
|
|
Primary election
Texas Tenth District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Place 2 |
The Democratic primary was canceled. |
|
|
| Place 3 |
The Democratic primary was canceled. |
|
|
Eleventh District Court of Appeals
General election
Texas Eleventh District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Place 2 |
|
||
| Place 3 |
|
||
Primary election
Texas Eleventh District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Place 2 |
The Democratic primary was canceled. |
|
|
| Place 3 |
The Democratic primary was canceled. |
|
|
Twelfth District Court of Appeals
General election
Texas Twelfth District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Chief Justice |
|
|
|
Primary election
Texas Twelfth District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Chief Justice |
The Democratic primary was canceled. |
|
|
Thirteenth District Court of Appeals
General election
Texas Thirteenth District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Place 4 |
|
|
|
| Place 6 |
|
||
Primary election
Texas Thirteenth District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Place 4 |
|
|
|
| Place 6 |
|
||
Fourteenth District Court of Appeals
General election
Texas Fourteenth District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Chief Justice |
|
||
| Place 7 |
|
|
|
Primary runoff election
Texas Fourteenth District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Place 7 |
|
||
Primary election
Texas Fourteenth District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Chief Justice |
|
||
| Place 7 |
|
|
|
Past elections
2018
General elections
Texas First District Court of Appeals
Texas First District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Place 2 |
Jane Bland (i) |
|
|
| Place 6 |
Harvey Brown (i) |
|
|
| Place 7 |
|
||
| Place 8 |
|
||
| Place 9 |
Jennifer Caughey (i) |
|
|
Texas Second District Court of Appeals
Texas Second District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Chief Justice |
|
|
|
| Place 4 |
|
|
|
| Place 5 |
|
||
| Place 6 |
|
|
|
Texas Third District Court of Appeals
Texas Third District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Place 2 |
|
||
| Place 3 |
Scott Field (i) |
|
|
| Place 5 |
David Puryear (i) |
|
|
| Place 6 |
|
||
- Write-in candidates
- Kerry O'Brien, Place 6
Texas Fourth District Court of Appeals
Texas Fourth District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Place 2 |
Marialyn Barnard (i) |
|
|
| Place 3 |
|
|
|
| Place 4 |
|
|
|
| Place 5 |
|
||
| Place 7 |
|
|
|
Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals
Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Chief Justice |
Douglas Lang (i) |
|
|
| Place 2 |
David Evans (i) |
|
|
| Place 5 |
Craig Stoddart (i) |
|
|
| Place 9 |
Jason Boatright (i) |
|
|
| Place 10 |
Molly Francis (i) |
|
|
| Place 11 |
|
||
| Place 12 |
|
||
| Place 13 |
|
||
Texas Sixth District Court of Appeals
General election candidates
- Scott Stevens (Republican Party) ✔
Texas Seventh District Court of Appeals
Place 2
General election candidates
- Judy Parker (Incumbent) (Republican Party) ✔
Place 3
General election candidates
- Patrick Pirtle (Incumbent) (Republican Party) ✔
Texas Eighth District Court of Appeals
Place 2
General election candidates
- Yvonne Rodriguez (Incumbent) (Democratic Party) ✔
Place 3
General election candidates
- Gina Palafox (Incumbent) (Democratic Party) ✔
Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals
Place 3
General election candidates
- Leanne Johnson (Incumbent) (Republican Party) ✔
Place 4
General election candidates
- Hollis Horton (Incumbent) (Republican Party) ✔
Texas Tenth District Court of Appeals
General election candidates
- Thomas Gray (Incumbent) (Republican Party) ✔
Texas Eleventh District Court of Appeals
General election candidates
- John Bailey (Incumbent) (Republican Party) ✔
Texas Twelfth District Court of Appeals
General election candidates
- Greg Neeley (Incumbent) (Republican Party) ✔
Texas Thirteenth District Court of Appeals
Texas Thirteenth District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Chief Justice |
|
||
| Place 2 |
|
|
|
| Place 4 |
|
||
| Place 5 |
|
|
|
Texas Fourteenth District Court of Appeals
Texas Fourteenth District Court of Appeals |
|||
|
|||
| Office | Other | ||
| Place 3 |
Brett Busby (i) |
|
|
| Place 4 |
Marc Brown (i) |
|
|
| Place 5 |
|
||
| Place 6 |
William Boyce (i) |
|
|
| Place 8 |
John Donovan (i) |
|
|
Primary runoffs
Texas Third District Court of Appeals, Place 6
■ Michael Toth (R)
■ Donna Davidson (R)
Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals, Place 12
■ Jim Pikl (R)
■ William Johnson (R)
Primaries
Texas First District Court of Appeals
Place 2■ Gordon Goodman (D) Place 6■ Sarah Beth Landau (D) Place 7Incumbent Terry Jennings (D) did not seek re-election. |
Place 8■ Richard Hightower (D) Place 9■ Peter Kelly (D) |
Texas Second District Court of Appeals
Place 4■ Wade Birdwell (R) Place 5Incumbent Sue Walker (R) did not seek re-election. ■ Delonia Watson (D) |
Place 6■ Mark Pittman (R) Chief justice■ Bonnie Sudderth (R) |
Texas Third District Court of Appeals
Place 2■ Edward Smith (D) Place 3■ Chari Kelly (D) Place 5■ Thomas Baker (D) |
Place 6Incumbent Robert Pemberton (R) did not seek re-election. ■ Gisela Triana (D) |
Texas Fourth District Court of Appeals
Place 2■ Beth Watkins (D) Place 3■ Patricia Alvarez (D) Place 4■ Luz Elena Chapa (D) |
Place 5Incumbent Karen Angelini (R) did not seek re-election. ■ Liza Rodriguez (D) Place 7■ Rebeca Martinez (D) |
Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals
Place 2■ Robbie Partida-Kipness (D) Place 5■ Erin Nowell (D) Place 9■ Bill Pedersen (D) Place 10■ Amanda Reichek (D) Place 11Incumbent Douglas Lang (R) filed to run for chief justice. |
Place 12Incumbent Robert Fillmore (R) did not seek re-election. Place 13■ Leslie Lester Osborne (D) Chief justiceIncumbent Carolyn Wright (R) did not seek re-election. |
Texas Sixth District Court of Appeals
Place 2
Incumbent Bailey Moseley (R) did not seek re-election.
■ Scott Stevens (R) 
Texas Seventh District Court of Appeals
Place 2
■ Judy Parker (R)
Place 3
■ Patrick Pirtle (R)
Texas Eighth District Court of Appeals
Place 2
■ Yvonne Rodriguez (D)
Place 3
■ Gina Palafox (D)
Texas Ninth District Court of Appeals
Place 3
■ Leanne Johnson (R)
Place 4
■ Hollis Horton (R)
Texas Tenth District Court of Appeals
Chief justice
■ Thomas Gray (R)
Texas Eleventh District Court of Appeals
Chief justice
Incumbent Jim Wright (R) did not seek re-election.
■ John Bailey (R)
Texas Twelfth District Court of Appeals
Place 3
■ Greg Neeley (R)
Texas Thirteenth District Court of Appeals
Place 2■ Nora Longoria (D) Place 4Incumbent Nelda Rodriguez (D) did not seek re-election. Place 5■ Gina Benavides (D) |
Chief justiceIncumbent Rogelio Valdez (D) did not seek re-election. ■ Dori Contreras (D) |
Texas Fourteenth District Court of Appeals
Place 3■ Jerry Zimmerer (D) Place 4■ Charles Spain (D) Place 5■ Frances Bourliot (D) |
Place 6■ Meagan Hassan (D) Place 8■ Margaret Poissant (D) |
Selection
- See also: Judicial selection in Texas
Judges serve six-year terms and are elected through partisan elections. Vacancies between elections are filled by the governor, with advice and confirmation by the Senate.[9]
Qualifications
The qualifications to be an appellate judge are:[9]
- Citizen of the United States and of Texas
- Between the ages of 35 and 74
- A practicing lawyer, or lawyer and judge of court of record together, for at least 10 years
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ New York Daily News, "Fifth District Court of Appeals Justice David Bridges killed by alleged drunk driver in 3-car Texas wreck," July 26, 2020
- ↑ Ballotpedia staff, "Phone conversation with the office of the Texas Secretary of State," July 28, 2020
- ↑ Texas Scorecard, "GOP Grassroots Choose John Browning as Dallas Court of Appeals Nominee," August 15, 2020
- ↑ New York Daily News, "Fifth District Court of Appeals Justice David Bridges killed by alleged drunk driver in 3-car Texas wreck," July 26, 2020
- ↑ Ballotpedia staff, "Phone conversation with the office of the Texas Secretary of State," July 28, 2020
- ↑ Texas Scorecard, "GOP Grassroots Choose John Browning as Dallas Court of Appeals Nominee," August 15, 2020
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Texas Second District Court of Appeals, Steven Denny v. The Honorable Lawrence M. 'Larry' Doss, Justice, 7th Court of Appeals, Place 4, decided April 30, 2020
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "Texas Election Results," accessed May 15, 2020
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Texas Judicial Branch, "Judicial Qualifications, Selection and Terms of Office," archived September 10, 2014
Federal courts:
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Texas, Western District of Texas, Northern District of Texas, Southern District of Texas • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Texas, Western District of Texas, Northern District of Texas, Southern District of Texas
State courts:
Texas Supreme Court • Texas Court of Appeals • Texas Court of Criminal Appeals • Texas District Courts • Texas County Courts • Texas County Courts at Law • Texas Statutory Probate Courts • Texas Justice of the Peace Courts
State resources:
Courts in Texas • Texas judicial elections • Judicial selection in Texas
| ||||||||||
