After a tight 24 hours of back-and-forth swings akin to a tennis match, the four races in the Houston appellate courts are currently an even divide between incumbents and challengers prevailing, remaining as tight as a John Isner tiebreaker at Wimbledon.
Two incumbents — the Fourteenth Court of Appeals’ Tracy Christopher and Ken Wise — are leading their races by 1%.
First Court of Appeals incumbent Terry Adams was leading his race by 1% most of Wednesday until the evening arrived, when the lead flipped to his opponent, Democratic challenger Amparo Monique Guerra. Their race is the tightest among the Houston appellate courts, with only a 1,367 vote difference between them, which equates to .06 percentage points.
Jones Walker litigator Veronica Rivas-Molloy is the other Democratic challenger currently winning, who is leading her incumbent opponent First Court of Appeals Justice Russell Lloyd, by 1%.
Meanwhile, 240 miles away, incumbents in Dallas’ Fifth Court of Appeals are headed for an upset, with their Democratic challengers leading by a wider margin.
All three Democratic challengers in the Fifth Court are leading the incumbents by roughly 7%.
Republican Justice Tracy Christopher and Democrat AZA partner Jane Robinson are running a tight race for the chief justice position on the Fourteenth Court, with Christopher currently leading 50.09% to Robinson’s 49.91%.
(Editor’s Note: The numbers in this story are up to date as of 8 p.m. Nov. 4, with 100% of counties reporting and 94% of polling locations reporting, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s website. The latest numbers for Lawbook judicial coverage can be found here.)
The other incumbent on the Fourteenth Court’s ballot, Republican Ken Wise, is leading Democratic challenger Tamika “Tami” Craft by a similar lead: 50.5% to 49.91%.
Rivas-Molloy currently has 50.69% of the vote, while her opponent, Republican opponent Russell Lloyd, has 49.31% of the vote.
The Fifth Court’s three Democratic challengers, all civil trial judges in Dallas County, are leading the Republican incumbents they are challenging.
Judge Bonnie Lee Goldstein of Dallas County’s 44th District Court leads incumbent David Evans 52.29% to 47.71%.
Judge Craig Smith of Dallas County’s 192nd District Court leads incumbent John Browning by 52.64% to 47.36%.
Family Judge Dennise Garcia of Dallas County’s 303rd District Court is leading incumbent Bill Whitehill 52.86% to 47.14%.
Earlier coverage begins here:
Incumbent judicial candidates on Houston’s First and Fourteenth Courts of Appeals are neck to neck with their Democratic opponents, with more than 95% of precincts in Texas reporting.
Meanwhile, 240 miles away, incumbents in Dallas’ Fifth Court of Appeals are headed for an upset, with their Democratic challengers leading by a wider margin.
The Democratic challengers in the Fifth Court are leading the incumbents by roughly 7%. In the First and Fourteenth Courts, most of the incumbents are winning by a tighter margin — 51% to 49%.
Republican Justice Tracy Christopher and Democrat AZA partner Jane Robinson are running a tight race for the chief justice position on the Fourteenth Court, with Christopher currently leading 50.17% to Robinson’s 49.83%.
The other incumbent on the Fourteenth Court’s ballot, Republican Ken Wise, is leading Democratic challenger Tamika “Tami” Craft by a similar lead: 50.6% to 49.4%.
Democrat Veronica Rivas-Molloy, a special counsel at Jones Walker, is the sole challenger candidate currently leading in the four appellate court races in the Houston area. She currently has 50.59% of the vote, while her opponent, Republican opponent Russell Lloyd, has 49.41% of the vote.
Shackelford partner Amparo Monique Guerra is slightly trailing her Republican incumbent opponent, Terry Adams, by 49.94% to 50.06%.
The Fifth Court’s three Democratic challengers, all civil trial judges in Dallas County, are leading the Republican incumbents they are challenging.
Judge Bonnie Lee Goldstein of Dallas County’s 44th District Court leads incumbent David Evans 52.73% to 47.27%.
Judge Craig Smith of Dallas County’s 192nd District Court leads incumbent John Browning by 53.08% to 46.92%.
Family Judge Dennise Garcia of Dallas County’s 303rd District Court is leading incumbent Bill Whitehill 53.07% to 46.93%.
Publisher’s Note: This coverage of the 2020 judicial elections by The Texas Lawbook is being made available outside our paywall courtesy of Thompson Coburn and Carter Arnett.