Democrats lead all 10 statewide judicial races on the Texas ballot from November 3, according to unofficial returns from the Texas Secretary of State. The closest, Place 3 on the Court of Criminal Appeals, had not been called by the Associated Press as of the Texas Tribune's last update on Wednesday. If the leads hold, they would be the first Democratic wins on the state's two highest courts since 1994.
The sweep covers four seats on the Supreme Court of Texas, the state's final word on civil law, three seats on the Court of Criminal Appeals, which hears every death penalty appeal in the state, and all three seats on the new Fifteenth Court of Appeals, the statewide court that hears cases brought by and against the state. Republicans keep majorities on both high courts, 5 to 4 on the Supreme Court and 6 to 3 on the Court of Criminal Appeals, the Texas Tribune reported. The Fifteenth Court flips entirely.
How we counted
Every vote total in this story comes from the Secretary of State's election night results site, which we checked at about 8:20 a.m. Central time on Thursday, November 5. At that point the site showed all 254 counties reporting and was last updated at 10:48 p.m. on Wednesday, November 4. The figures are unofficial until the statewide canvass. We added up the major party votes in each race, computed each winner's margin as a share of all votes cast in that race, and compared those margins with the top of the ticket. Anyone can repeat the arithmetic from the same page.
The Supreme Court of Texas
Chief Justice: Maggie Ellis, a Democrat and a justice on the Third Court of Appeals in Austin, received 5,102,288 votes, or 52.45 percent, to 4,625,886 for Chief Justice Jimmy Blacklock. Her margin is 476,402 votes, or 4.90 points.
Place 2: Chari Kelly, a Democrat from the Third Court of Appeals, received 5,068,047 votes, or 52.25 percent, to 4,631,182 for Justice James P. Sullivan. Margin 4.50 points.
Place 7: Kristen Hawkins, a Democrat and a Harris County district judge, received 5,112,073 votes, or 52.78 percent, to 4,572,758 for Justice Kyle Hawkins. Margin 5.57 points, the widest of the 10 races.
Place 8: Gisela D. Triana, a Democrat from the Third Court of Appeals, received 5,033,586 votes, or 52.02 percent, to 4,643,375 for Justice Brett Busby. Margin 4.03 points. Busby conceded early Wednesday, the Tribune reported.
Three of the four Republicans had reached the court by appointment from Governor Greg Abbott. The court's own biographies say Blacklock became chief justice by appointment in January 2025, Sullivan was appointed the same month, and Kyle Hawkins was appointed in October 2025. Busby was appointed in 2019 and then won a full term in 2020.
The Court of Criminal Appeals
Place 3: Okey Anyiam, a Democrat, received 4,839,230 votes, or 50.03 percent, to 4,601,878 for Republican Thomas Smith, with Libertarian Mark Ash at 2.39 percent. Margin 2.45 points, the closest of the 10. The Tribune's last update on Wednesday afternoon said the Associated Press had not yet called this race.
Place 4: Audra Riley, a Democrat and a Dallas County criminal district judge, received 4,996,898 votes, or 51.75 percent, to 4,659,299 for Judge Kevin Patrick Yeary, who was first elected in 2014. Margin 3.50 points.
Place 9: Holly Taylor, a Democrat, received 5,043,094 votes, or 52.28 percent, to 4,602,681 for Republican John Messinger in an open seat. Margin 4.57 points.
This is the court that matters most to anyone on death row in Texas. Its own description says death penalty appeals "come directly to the Court of Criminal Appeals from the trial courts," and that it holds the "sole authority to grant the writ of habeas corpus" in the cases it describes. Three new judges will not change who controls the court, but they will vote on stays and habeas petitions from January. On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard a Texas death row case that began in this court, and we report on what the justices asked in Guerrero v. Johnson.
The Fifteenth Court of Appeals
Chief Justice: Jerry Zimmerer, a Democrat and former Fourteenth Court of Appeals justice, received 51.81 percent to 48.19 percent for Chief Justice Scott Brister. Margin 3.62 points.
Place 2: Tom Baker, a Democrat and former Third Court of Appeals justice, received 51.98 percent to 48.02 percent for Justice Scott K. Field, who conceded shortly after midnight, according to the Tribune. Margin 3.96 points.
Place 3: Marc M. Meyer, a Democrat in private practice, received 51.54 percent to 48.46 percent for Justice April Farris. Margin 3.08 points.
The Legislature created this court in 2023, and it hears civil cases involving the state, appeals from the new business court and challenges to the constitutionality of state laws, the Tribune reported. The court's website shows that Brister and Farris took office on September 1, 2024, and lists Field as the third justice. All three were appointed by Abbott as the court's first members and were in their first general election, the Tribune reported. A little over two years after it opened, the bench that decides lawsuits over state policy has changed hands.
Our tally
Across the 10 statewide judicial races, Democrats lead in all 10, and 8 of the 10 Republican candidates were sitting judges. By our count, voters removed four of the nine sitting justices of the Supreme Court, one of the nine judges of the Court of Criminal Appeals and all three justices of the Fifteenth Court of Appeals.
The sweep did not stop at the statewide courts. The state's results show 22 seats on the regional courts of appeals on the ballot. Eleven had only one candidate, and 10 of those 11 unopposed candidates were Republicans. The other 11 were contested, and Democrats won all 11, including three races in which they unseated Republican justices on the First, Thirteenth and Fourteenth Courts of Appeals. Counting both levels, Democrats won 21 of 21 contested appellate races in Texas.
The judges ran behind the top of the ticket
The winning judicial candidates did not match the margins at the top of the ballot. James Talarico won the U.S. Senate race by 12.09 points over Ken Paxton, and Gina Hinojosa won the governor's race by 7.13 points over Abbott, using the same returns. The average Democratic margin in the 10 statewide judicial races was 4.02 points, by our arithmetic. That is about 8 points below Talarico's margin and about 3 points below Hinojosa's.
Fewer people voted in the court races, too. The Senate race drew 9,889,704 votes. The chief justice race drew 9,728,174, which is 161,530 fewer, or 1.63 percent. The last statewide race on the ballot, Place 3 on the Fifteenth Court of Appeals, drew 9,605,266, which is 284,438 fewer than the Senate race, or 2.88 percent. That is the usual pattern of voters skipping races far down the ballot, and here it was not enough to change any outcome.
How long it has been
"A Democrat last won a seat on the Texas Supreme Court and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in 1994," the Tribune reported. The paper noted one exception to the all Republican benches since then: Judge Lawrence Meyers of the Court of Criminal Appeals switched to the Democratic Party in 2013 and lost his reelection race three years later.
What the two sides said
Ellis said in a statement from her campaign, as reported by Fox 4, "Texas, we made history." Her campaign says she will be the first woman to lead the court and the first openly LGBTQ person elected statewide in Texas. She said she wants more money for indigent defense and to expand access to justice.
Republicans were still sorting out the wider loss on Thursday. "I blame it on our leadership. I just do," Comptroller Don Huffines said at his election night party, according to the Tribune, which reported that other Republicans blamed President Trump, Paxton and one another. We did not find a published statement from Blacklock or the Republican Party of Texas on the court results by Thursday morning.
Don Cruse, an Austin appellate lawyer who writes about the Supreme Court of Texas, told the Dallas Morning News that a Democratic chief justice is "hugely symbolic." He said the court's new makeup could produce "different kinds of coalitions" and noted that for years the court "was the same party as the legislature passing the laws and the governor implementing them." The paper pointed out that the attorney general, who decides which cases the state brings to the high court, will now be a Democrat as well. Attorney General elect Nathan Johnson has already said how he plans to use that power on abortion cases, and we explain what he can and cannot change.
What happens next
The results become official after the state canvass. The Supreme Court's own biographies show terms ending on December 31, so the winners take their seats in January 2027. On the Supreme Court, at least four votes are traditionally needed to take up a case, which means four Democratic justices could together decide what the court hears. The Republican majority still decides how those cases come out, unless a justice crosses over.
For an earlier fight over how Texas handles a death row prisoner's claims, read our preview of Guerrero v. Johnson.
Two Taps News stories summarize reporting and the analysis discussed on Two Taps and Friends. They are not legal advice. Read our standards.
