Criminal appellate attorney; former director, Public Integrity and Complex Crimes Division, Travis County District Attorney's Office

Holly Taylor is a criminal appellate attorney and former director of the Public Integrity and Complex Crimes Division of the Travis County District Attorney's Office²⁵. She previously worked as a staff attorney and rules attorney at the Court of Criminal Appeals²⁴⁵. She is the Democratic nominee for Place 9 against Republican John Messinger¹³.

• Principal attorney in her own practice handling criminal and civil appeals⁴⁵
• Travis County District Attorney's Office: Director, Public Integrity and Complex Crimes Division; earlier Assistant Director for Post-Conviction Matters and Complex Litigation Support, leader of the Appeals Team, and attorney in the Public Integrity Unit; more than 17 years as a prosecutor according to her campaign⁴⁵
• Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: staff attorney and Rules Attorney²⁴⁵
• Board certified in criminal appellate law; law degree and Master of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin; BA, Rice University²⁴
• Not a sitting judge; seeking an open seat. She was the Democratic nominee for Presiding Judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals in 2024 and lost the general election⁵.
• Bar poll: State Bar of Texas 2026 Judicial Poll, final vote summary dated February 10, 2026. This was a non-binding straw poll of State Bar members on contested races, taken before the March 3 primary; the Bar describes it as a preference poll only, not an endorsement. Results: Holly Taylor 1,529 votes, Jennifer Balido 951, John Messinger 799 (Balido lost the Republican primary)⁶⁷.