Despite speculation that Democrats might pick up at least one spot, no Texas Supreme Court seats changed hands yesterday. Chief Justice Jefferson and Justices Wainwright and Johnson each handily defeated their opponents, so the Court will remain all-Republican a while longer. The Court of Criminal Appeals remained all-Republican as well.
The big news around these parts is former Justice Woodie Jones’s (pictured) defeat of incumbent Third Court of Appeals Chief Justice Ken Law. The media has covered this race thoroughly, so I’ll just say that the Third Court will now be evenly divided, with three justices from each party. (But rumor has it that one of the sitting justices might be leaving; I’ll report on that when confirmed.)
With one exception (Eighth Court incumbent Kenn Carr), other intermediate court justices on the ballot kept their jobs, including recent Fourteenth Court appointees Jeff Brown and Bill Boyce. Many of these races were very, very close.