Texas Judges on the Ballot: A Plain-English Guide

Why Texas elects judges by party

Most states pick at least some judges through appointment or nonpartisan ballots. Texas is different. Texas is one of only a few states that choose judges in partisan elections at every level, from the Texas Supreme Court down to your local justice of the peace¹.

Supporters say this keeps judges accountable to voters. If people are unhappy with a court, they can vote for someone else. Critics say most voters do not know much about judicial candidates, so many judicial races are decided by which party performs well at the top of the ballot rather than by a candidate's legal record¹.

The Texas court system, in plain English

Texas has two courts of last resort, which is unusual. Only Texas and Oklahoma split their top appeals this way².

Texas Supreme Court: the final word on civil and juvenile cases. That includes lawsuits between people or businesses, family law, and probate¹⁹. It also sets the rules of procedure and evidence for civil cases and has the final say on licensing attorneys¹⁹²¹.

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA): the final word on criminal cases. It is not required to hear most appeals, but every death penalty case comes directly to it¹⁸.

Courts of Appeals: Texas has 14 regional intermediate appeals courts. The Second Court of Appeals, based in Fort Worth, hears appeals from district and county courts in 12 north Texas counties, including Tarrant County. It handles both civil and criminal appeals except death penalty cases, which go straight to the CCA³.

The new Fifteenth Court of Appeals: created by the Legislature in 2023 (Senate Bill 1045) and open for business starting September 1, 2024²⁰. Unlike every other Texas appeals court, its district covers the whole state rather than a region. It hears civil appeals involving the state government, challenges to the constitutionality of state laws, and appeals from the new Texas Business Court, which handles large business disputes. It does not hear criminal cases⁴.

District courts: the main trial courts for felonies, family law, and civil cases above a certain dollar amount.

County courts at law: handle smaller civil cases, misdemeanors, and some family and probate matters, depending on the county.

Justices of the peace: handle small claims, minor criminal cases, evictions, and traffic tickets, and can perform marriages.

What a Colleyville voter will see on November 3, 2026

Colleyville sits in Tarrant County. Based on research compiled for this guide, here are the judicial races expected on the ballot. Confirm your exact ballot with Tarrant County Elections, since court numbers vary by address⁵.

Statewide judicial races (ten seats, including the first elections for the Fifteenth Court of Appeals):

Local judicial races:

• Texas Supreme Court, Chief Justice: Jimmy Blacklock (R, incumbent) vs. Maggie Ellis (D)⁶¹⁶
• Texas Supreme Court, Place 2: James Sullivan (R, incumbent) vs. Chari Kelly (D)⁶¹⁶
• Texas Supreme Court, Place 7: Kyle Hawkins (R, incumbent) vs. Kristen Hawkins (D)⁶¹⁶
• Texas Supreme Court, Place 8: Brett Busby (R, incumbent) vs. Gisela Triana (D)⁶¹⁶
• Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 3: Thomas Smith (R) vs. Okey Anyiam (D). Smith won the May 26, 2026 Republican runoff over Alison Fox¹⁷
• Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 4: Kevin Patrick Yeary (R, incumbent) vs. Audra Riley (D)⁷¹⁶
• Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 9: John Messinger (R) vs. Holly Taylor (D)⁷¹⁶
• Fifteenth Court of Appeals, Chief Justice: Scott Brister (R, incumbent) vs. Jerry Zimmerer (D)¹⁶
• Fifteenth Court of Appeals, Place 2: Scott Field (R, incumbent) vs. Tom Baker (D)¹⁶
• Fifteenth Court of Appeals, Place 3: April Farris (R, incumbent) vs. Marc Meyer (D)¹⁶
• Not confirmed as of September 2026: the full list of local judicial races and candidates. Tarrant County Court at Law and County Criminal Court seats are on the 2026 ballot⁸, but which district court, probate court, justice of the peace, and Second Court of Appeals seats appear, and who is running for each, was not independently verified for this guide. Pull your sample ballot from Tarrant County Elections for the full list⁵.

How to research a judge in 10 minutes

Judges cannot promise you how they will rule (see below), so the best way to evaluate one is to look at their record, experience, and how peers rate them. Here is a quick checklist:

• State Bar of Texas Judicial Poll: a poll of State Bar members on contested Supreme Court, Court of Criminal Appeals, and courts of appeals races. The State Bar says it is a preference poll only, not an endorsement. The 2026 poll covered races on the March primary ballot; whether a separate general election poll will be published was not confirmed as of September 2026⁹.
• Tarrant County Bar Association poll: in election years, the local bar association runs a Judicial Candidate Qualification Poll before the general election, in which members rate candidates in contested races. The association says the results are not an endorsement¹⁰.
• Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct: the state agency that investigates judicial misconduct. Its website lists public sanctions, so you can check whether a sitting judge has been formally disciplined¹¹.
• Court opinions: for appellate judges, you can read their written opinions to see their reasoning on real cases, rather than relying on campaign ads.
• Campaign finance reports: candidates for the Supreme Court, Court of Criminal Appeals, courts of appeals, and district courts file with the Texas Ethics Commission, which has a searchable database. County court at law and probate judge candidates file with the county instead. These reports show who is funding a campaign¹².
• Experience and background: how long has the candidate practiced law, what kind of law did they practice, and have they served as a judge before?

What "judicial philosophy" means

You may hear judicial candidates, especially at the Texas Supreme Court and CCA level, describe their approach to interpreting the law. Two broad approaches come up often. Each has prominent supporters and critics among judges and legal scholars.

Judges and campaign promises

Under Canon 5 of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct, judges and judicial candidates are not allowed to make pledges or promises about how they will rule in pending or future cases, or on specific classes of cases or litigants or specific legal questions, if doing so would suggest to a reasonable person that they have already made up their mind¹³.

The rule is aimed at promises about how cases will come out, so candidates often campaign instead on how they would run the court, such as handling cases promptly. This is one reason voters are pointed toward record, experience, and peer ratings rather than campaign promises when evaluating a judge.

Two ways judges read the law

The strongest case for each view, in terms its supporters would recognize. We don't pick a side.