STATE

Suddenly, Democrats flush with candidates for 2 top courts

Chuck Lindell / clindell@statesman.com
The Democratic primary for Texas Supreme Court chief justice pits state District Judge Amy Clark Meachum, left, against Justice Jerry Zimmerer of the 14th Court of Appeals.

After years of trouble scraping together enough candidates to run for seats on both statewide courts, Texas Democrats have the opposite situation in 2020 — contested primaries in almost every race.

In all four races for the Texas Supreme Court, the state’s highest civil court, two Democrats are vying to challenge Republican incumbents.

And for the state’s top criminal court, multiple Democrats are running in two of three available races for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

The renewed Democratic interest comes after the party’s court candidates lost by 6 to 8 points in 2018 — defeats that seem strong after the party’s judicial candidates were drubbed by an average of 24 points in 2010.

As an added incentive, Democratic judicial candidates tend to do better in presidential election years like 2020.

Contested primaries are a mixed blessing, offering an opportunity to improve name recognition but depleting campaign coffers, particularly in Supreme Court races in which GOP incumbents can raise more than $1 million in contributions, largely from civil lawyers and law firms. In contrast, races for the Court of Criminal Appeals tend to be low-cost affairs.

But no matter the court, campaigns tend to focus on each candidate’s legal experience, acknowledging that both courts make rulings that set precedents for decades to come.

Early voting runs Tuesday through Feb. 28. Election day is March 3.

Texas Supreme Court

In the race for chief justice, state District Judge Amy Clark Meachum of Travis County faces Jerry Zimmerer, a justice on the Houston-based 14th Court of Appeals.

Meachum, a lawyer since 2000, began in a Dallas law firm before moving to Austin, where she became a partner in the McGinnis Lochridge law firm. She’s been a district judge since 2011 and is the presiding judge for all of Travis County’s civil and family courts.

Zimmerer, elected to the appeals court in 2018, has been a lawyer since 1984, working in trial and appellate courts. He has advanced legal degrees in health law and international law.

Both hope to bring diversity of thought and experience to a nine-member court that has been all Republican since 1999, although Meachum says she brings an added dimension. The court currently has three female justices, but no woman has served as chief justice.

The winner will face Chief Justice Nathan Hecht, a Republican who has been on the court since 1989, in November.

Running for Place 6 on the court, Houston lawyer Kathy Cheng faces Dallas lawyer Larry Praeger.

Cheng, a 20-year lawyer who focuses on civil and commercial litigation, also ran for the Supreme Court in 2018, losing by 7.4 points. Born in Taiwan, she said electing justices with diverse backgrounds is crucial.

Praeger, a 38-year lawyer who is board certified in family law, started as a Bell County assistant county attorney and opened his own practice in 1988. He said he has diverse experience, having practiced before every level of civil court, from the Supreme Court to municipal court.

The winner will face Republican incumbent Justice Jane Bland in November.

In the race for Place 7, McAllen lawyer Brandy Voss faces state District Judge Staci Williams.

Voss is board certified in civil appellate law and has been an appellate lawyer for her 17-year legal career, with four years as a senior staff attorney at the Edinburg-based 13th Court of Appeals and one year as a Texas Supreme Court briefing attorney. She also has been an adjunct professor in constitutional law for University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley.

Williams, serving her second four-year term as a judge for the 101st Civil District Court in Dallas County, has served as a lawyer for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, a municipal court judge in Dallas and an administrative judge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission during a 27-year legal career.

The winner faces incumbent Republican Justice Jeff Boyd in November.

Appeals court justices Peter Kelly of Houston and Gisela Triana of Austin are vying for Place 8 and the chance to face incumbent Republican Justice Brett Busby in November.

Kelly, board certified in civil appellate law, has been on the Houston-based 1st Court of Appeals for one year and a lawyer for 28 years, with the last 20 years focused on appeals in state and federal courts as a founding partner of a law firm with offices in Houston, Dallas and Santa Fe.

Triana, on the Austin-based 3rd Court of Appeals for one year, has been a lawyer for 31 years, with the past 24 years as a judge at every level below Supreme Court, including municipal court, justice of the peace, county court-at-law and district court.

Court of Criminal Appeals

Democrats have a three-way race for Place 3 on the state’s highest criminal court.

Houston civil rights lawyer William Pieratt Demond has focused on litigation to protect constitutional rights during a 12-year legal career.

Cedar Hill lawyer Elizabeth Davis Frizell has practiced criminal law for 26 years, including 20 years as a judge in state district court, Dallas County criminal court and municipal court.

Dan Wood, a 32-year lawyer from Terrell, is board certified in criminal appellate law and ran unsuccessfully for the Dallas-based 5th Court of Appeals in 2012 and the U.S. House in 2018.

The victor will face the winner of a GOP primary between Judge Bert Richardson and Waco lawyer Gina Parker. Richardson is the only statewide incumbent judge to have a primary opponent.

For Place 4, state District Judge Tina Clinton faces Grapevine lawyer Steven Miears for a chance to take on Republican incumbent Judge Kevin Yeary.

Clinton has practiced criminal law for 25 years as a prosecutor, defense lawyer, municipal judge, county court misdemeanor judge and, for the past year, head of Dallas County Criminal District Court No. 1.

Miears is board certified in criminal law and criminal appellate law and has been lead trial and appellate counsel, including death penalty cases, during 36 years as a lawyer.

There are no primary opponents in the race for Place 9, where incumbent Republican David Newell will face Democratic state District Judge Brandon Birmingham in November.