The news of an all-Republican sweep of the Texas Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas last week was premature.
Citing mail-in ballots and provisional voting from Dallas County and Collin County, multiple sources have told The Texas Lawbook that Dallas County Criminal Court Judge Tina Clinton, a Democrat, appears to have flipped the election results and won her race for the Dallas appeals court against Thompson Coe commercial litigator Matthew Kolodoski.
Kolodoski led Judge Clinton by only 1,512 votes — 755,511 votes for Kolodoski versus 753,999 for Judge Clinton — when the election day and early voting ballots were tabulated following Tuesday’s election.
Mail-in and provisional ballots were reviewed Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
In an exclusive interview with The Lawbook on Sunday evening, Judge Clinton confirmed that the final vote tally, when it is certified this week, will show she gained about 3,000 votes against Kolodoski, giving her a lead of about 1,600 votes.
Judge Clinton said that she received a text message from Kolodoski on Friday at 5:55 p.m. stating that his campaign confirmed the same voting information.
“Mr. Kolodoski was incredibly gracious and congratulated me on the election victory,” Judge Clinton said. “He wished me the best as a new judge on the court of appeals. Mr. Kolodoski has been professional throughout and we both ran a very congenial campaign.”
Multiple efforts to reach Kolodoski for comment were unsuccessful.
Eight seats on the Dallas Court of Appeals were up for election this past Tuesday. Democrats had won every election for the appeals court since 2018 and were expected to win again.
Instead, Republicans statewide swept into office. The initial election results showed — in fact, the state’s website with the official voting numbers still shows — that Republican candidates pulled off a stunning upset by winning all eight judicial spots.
The race between Judge Clinton and Kolodoski was the closest, with Kolodoski leading 50.05 percent to 49.95 percent. The next closest was Democratic Dallas County District Judge Tonya Parker’s loss to Emily Miskel by 7,500 votes or 50.25 percent to 49.75 percent.
“I’d like to thank all the Democrats who supported me, the outstanding incumbent Justices who ran alongside me, my incredible campaign team of Jeff Dalton and Zach Bullard, and my donors and supporters,” Judge Clinton wrote this weekend on her Facebook page. “I also want to single out Terri Hodge, in particular, as she tirelessly worked the vote by mail component of the election that was critical to this victory. Thank you to all.”
“I know my victory is bittersweet because we lost several outstanding justices on the court,” Judge Clinton wrote. “I pledge to serve tirelessly with honor and fairness.”