The State Bar of Texas recently released the results of a straw poll it conducts every election cycle that asks its members to cast a ballot for the judge or justice of their choice for the various contested races across the state.
Here, The Lawbook takes a look at the 2024 results for Texas Supreme Court races, but also compares the results of the 2022 and 2020 straw polls with the results of the general election in an attempt to offer insight into how often the voting members of the bar aligned with the Texas voting public at large.
In 2022, members of the bar would have elected two Democrats to the state’s supreme court and kept one incumbent Republican.
In the 2024 straw poll, a majority of lawyers voted to keep two incumbent Republican justices but would have ousted a third in favor of a Democratic challenger.
However, Texas voters at large haven’t elected a Democrat to statewide office in 30 years — and the last two Democrats that held seats on the Texas Supreme Court left the bench in 1998. That reality seems to indicate the Texas legal community skews more liberal than the general voting public.
2024 State Bar Poll Results
Incumbent Republican justices Jimmy Blacklock and Jane Bland would win reelection if members of the state bar had their way. Blacklock received 44.7 percent of the 5,673 votes cast for Place 2, and Bland received 47.4 percent of the 5,956 votes cast for Place 6.
Bland received the most votes of any candidate for the Texas Supreme Court in the poll. That popularity tracks with the voting public at large. When Justice Bland won election to the bench in 2020, following an appointment to the seat by the governor, she set a record as the candidate who received the most votes in state history with slightly more than 6 million – more than Donald Trump and Sen. John Cornyn in the same election.
But lawyers in Texas would prefer to see Democrat Christine Weems of Houston take over Place 4, currently held by incumbent Republican Justice John Devine. Weems is currently a Harris County district court judge.
Weems earned 45.7 percent of the 5,887 votes cast compared to 30.7 percent for Devine.
2022 State Bar Poll Results
Members of the state bar in 2022 who voted in the judicial poll aligned with the voting public in just one out of the three races on the ballot.
Lawyers overwhelmingly voted to keep incumbent Republican Justice Debra Lehrmann on the bench. She received 58 percent of the 5,756 votes cast for Place 3. Second place in that race, as picked by members of the bar, was Democrat Erin A. Nowell with 32.1 percent of the vote. Nowell has held a seat on the Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas since 2018.
Only 81 votes separated the two candidates for Place 5 in the 2022 poll – with lawyers narrowly selecting Democrat Amanda Reichek over incumbent Republican Justice Rebeca Aizpuru Huddle. Reichek has held a seat on the Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas since 2018.
In the race for Place 9, members of the bar would have elected Democrat Julia Maldonado to the bench. Maldonado currently serves as a Harris County district court judge.
Maldonado received 44 percent of the 5,534 votes cast, compared to 30 percent for incumbent Republican Justice Evan Young and 26 percent for Republican challenger David Schenck, who formerly sat on the Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas and this election cycle is seeking a seat on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
2022 General Election Results
In the general election, Justice Lehrmann received 56.2 percent of the nearly 8 million votes cast for Place 3, compared to 41.8 percent for Democratic challenger Nowell.
The nearly 8 million general election voters who cast a ballot for Place 5 picked incumbent Justice Huddle, with 57.1 percent of the vote over Democratic challenger Reichek, who garnered 42.9 percent of the vote.
Of the nearly 8 million voters who cast a ballot for the Place 9 race, 56.4 percent of them chose incumbent Justice Young over Democratic challenger Maldonado, who garnered 43.6 percent of the vote.
2020 State Bar Poll Results
Lawyers who participated in the straw poll in 2020 went four-for-four, picking each Texas Supreme Court justices who went on to win the general election.
The group of incumbent Republicans — Chief Justice Nathan Hecht, Justice Bland, Justice Jeff Boyd and Justice Brett Busby — all won out in the straw poll.
Chief Justice Hecht received 53 percent of the 5,109 votes cast in his race, besting Amy Clark Meachum’s nearly 35 percent of the vote. Meachum is currently a Travis County district court judge.
Justice Bland received 52 percent of the 4,537 votes cast in the Place 6 race. Her closest challenger was Houston attorney Kathy Cheng, a Democrat, who garnered 31.7 percent of the straw poll votes.
Justice Boyd received about 42 percent of the 4,567 votes cast for Place 7, beating out his closest challenger, attorney Brandy Voss, a Democrat from McAllen, who got about 31 percent of the vote.
Justice Busby received 40.5 percent of the 4,720 votes cast for Place 8. His closest challenger in the race was Gisela D. Triana, who since 2018 has served as a justice on the Third Court of Appeals in Austin. The Democrat received about 33 percent of the straw poll vote.
2020 General Election Results
Chief Justice Hecht received 53 percent of the nearly 11 million votes cast in the general election in 2020, compared to Meachum’s 44.5 percent.
Justice Bland received 55.2 percent of the vote compared to Cheng’s 44.8 percent.
Justice Boyd received 53.3 percent of the vote in the general election, but Voss didn’t end up making it past the Democratic primary. Instead, Justice Boyd beat out Democrat Staci Williams, who received 44.4 percent of the vote. Williams has served as a Dallas County district court judge since 2014.
And Justice Busby received 53.4 percent of the vote, compared to Justice Triana’s 44.1 percent.
