Who is running for Fifteenth Court of Appeals, Place 2 in 2026?

Justice, Fifteenth Court of Appeals, Place 2

Scott K. Field has been a justice on the Fifteenth Court of Appeals since 2024, appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott as one of the court's inaugural members³⁴. He previously served as the first judge of Williamson County's 480th District Court and for six years on the Third Court of Appeals¹. He is the Republican nominee for Place 2 and faces Democrat Tom Baker²³.

• Justice, Fifteenth Court of Appeals, since 2024³⁴
• Inaugural judge, 480th District Court (Williamson County), appointed by Gov. Abbott in 2022¹⁴
• Justice, Third Court of Appeals, 2013 through 2018¹⁴
• Partner, Butler Snow LLP; earlier Baker Botts, York, Keller & Field, and The Field Law Firm¹
• Law clerk to Justice Raul Gonzalez, Supreme Court of Texas; JD, University of Texas School of Law¹
• Appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott in 2024 as one of the court's three inaugural members³⁴.
• Bar poll: State Bar of Texas 2026 Judicial Poll (non-binding preference poll of bar members, taken before the March 3 primary): Thomas Baker 1,692 votes, Scott K. Field 1,523¹²¹³.
• Attorney General reporting rules for large-county prosecutors (Paxton v. Garza, December 30, 2025): wrote the unanimous panel opinion holding that Government Code section 41.006 does not give the Attorney General rulemaking authority; the court upheld a temporary injunction blocking the rules for the prosecutors who sued and reversed the injunction to the extent it covered anyone else⁵⁶⁷. The trial court ruled the rules invalid on May 7, 2026, and on May 29, 2026 the Supreme Court of Texas, on the parties' joint motion, vacated the appeals court judgment and dismissed that appeal as moot⁷⁸.
• Attorney General's lawsuit against Beto O'Rourke and his group Powered by People (In re Powered by People): member of the three-justice panel that in August 2025 paused a Tarrant County temporary injunction hearing and expedited discovery order⁹, and that in an unsigned September 12, 2025 order stayed the trial court's August 15 restraining order on the group's fundraising, stating that on the limited evidence offered it would be an unconstitutional prior restraint of political activity (relief was denied as to a later August 25 order)¹⁰. Joined Chief Justice Brister's September 8, 2026 majority opinion holding that the State's dropping of its injunction claims made most of the challenge moot; the court vacated the restraining order and related discovery and venue rulings, and upheld as modified the trial court's order barring the group from pursuing the same dispute in El Paso¹¹.

Attorney in private practice; former justice, Third Court of Appeals

Tom Baker served as a justice on the Third Court of Appeals in Austin from 2019 through 2024³⁴⁵. He practiced family and appellate law in Central Texas and served in the U.S. Naval Reserve Judge Advocate General's Corps²⁴. He is the Democratic nominee for Place 2 on the Fifteenth Court of Appeals against Republican incumbent Scott K. Field¹³.

• Justice, Third Court of Appeals (Austin), Place 5, January 2019 through December 2024⁴⁵⁶
• Private practice focused on family law and appellate work in Central Texas; partner, Baker & Tisdale, PLLC, 2015 to 2018²⁴
• U.S. Naval Reserve, Judge Advocate General's Corps, 1984 to 1991⁴
• Assistant County Attorney, Bee County, 1991 to 1994²⁴
• JD, University of Houston Law Center, 1983²⁴
• Elected to the Third Court of Appeals, Place 5, in 2018, defeating Republican incumbent David Puryear, 53.9 to 46.1 percent⁴⁶. Lost the March 2024 Democratic primary for that seat to Karin Crump, 56.2 to 43.8 percent, and left office December 31, 2024⁶. Unopposed in the 2026 Democratic primary³.
• Bar poll: State Bar of Texas 2026 Judicial Poll (non-binding preference poll of bar members, taken before the March 3 primary): Thomas Baker 1,692 votes, Scott K. Field 1,523 (poll lists him as Thomas Baker)⁷⁸.