Texas Republicans sweep Supreme Court, Court of Criminal Appeals races

Sign up for The Brief, our day by day publication that retains readers in control on probably the most important Texas news.

Republicans held on to all their seats on Texas’ two highest courts in Tuesday’s midterm elections, an anticipated final result in a state the place Republicans have dominated statewide elections for the final quarter-century.

In statewide races for the Texas Supreme Court, which handles civil circumstances, incumbent Debra Lehrmann was joined by fellow Republicans Rebeca Huddle and Evan Young in securing wins Tuesday. In contests for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state’s prime appellate court docket for prison circumstances, three GOP incumbents — Mary Lou Keel, Scott Walker and Jesse McClure — have been additionally victorious.

Final voting tallies weren’t but obtainable at 9 a.m. Wednesday, however all of the Republican candidates held leads of 12 share factors or increased with greater than 90% of voting facilities counted.

Each of the 2 courts has 9 seats, with winners elected to six-year phrases. Three seats have been up for reelection this yr in every court docket. Texas is one of eight states that fill their prime courts by partisan elections, and a Democrat was final elected to the Supreme Court in 1994. The final time a Democrat served on the Court of Criminal Appeals was when Lawrence Meyers, who was elected as a Republican, switched parties in 2013. Meyers misplaced his 2016 bid for reelection to Keel.

In current years, the Supreme Court has dominated on all kinds of high-impact circumstances, together with the enforcement of the state’s pre-Civil War abortion ban, the COVID-19 mask mandates, the attempted state takeover of the Houston Independent School District board, and Gov. Greg Abbott’s directive to the state child welfare agency to investigate families of trans youth.

Seven out of 9 of the Supreme Court’s justices have been initially appointed to the court docket by Republican governors in between elections.

Criminal circumstances within the state can transfer by one of 14 appellate courts earlier than reaching the Court of Criminal Appeals. Appeals in death penalty cases in Texas go straight to this court docket, which opinions the circumstances for legal errors. The Court of Criminal Appeals can also be the ultimate arbiter of “habeas corpus” appeals, during which folks incarcerated for felonies declare they’re being illegally punished or unlawfully detained; this sort of case contains innocence claims and alleged violations of incarcerated folks’s civil rights.

Recently, the court docket has additionally dominated on circumstances involving illegal voting, in addition to a high-profile determination towards Attorney General Ken Paxton’s attempts to pursue election-related cases with out the permission of native prosecutors. A Democrat has not been elected to the court docket for the reason that late Nineteen Nineties.

Texas Supreme Court winners

In Place 3, Lehrmann beat Democratic challenger Erin Nowell, a justice on the fifth District Court of Appeals. This is Lehrmann’s third reelection to the Supreme Court; she was appointed to the court docket by Gov. Rick Perry in 2010.

Huddle gained her first election to Place 5 after Abbott appointed her to the position in 2020. Huddle beat Democrat Amanda Reichek, a justice on the fifth District Court of Appeals.

Young, in Place 9, additionally gained his first election after Abbott appointed him to the court docket in November 2021. Young, who beforehand clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, beat Julia Maldonado, a Democrat who presides over the 507th Family Court in Harris County.

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals winners

Keel ran uncontested for Place 2 on the Court of Criminal Appeals. She has been on the bench since 2016.

For Place 5, Walker, an incumbent who was first elected in 2016, stored his seat. He beat Democrat Dana Huffman, an lawyer and municipal decide in North Texas.

For Place 6, Jesse McClure retained his seat, to which he was appointed in 2020. Before his appointment, he was the presiding decide of the 339th District Court in Harris County. He beat Democrat Robert Johnson, the presiding decide for the 177th Criminal District Court in Harris County.

The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit statewide news group devoted to holding Texans knowledgeable on politics and coverage points that influence their communities. This election season, Texans across the state will flip to The Texas Tribune for the information they want on voting, election outcomes, evaluation of key races and extra. Get the latest.