Texas voters see 10 statewide court races, 11 court races elected by district, 499 county-level judicial races in the counties we track on the November 3, 2026 ballot in the races The Ballot Brief tracks. Retention questions are a yes-or-no vote on keeping a sitting judge; elected seats work like any other race.
Statewide court races
These seats are elected by every voter in Texas. Open a race for the full page.
Voted statewide: on every Texas ballot. 2 candidates.
Jimmy Blacklock (R) Incumbent
Jimmy Blacklock is the incumbent Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court, appointed to the court in 2018 and named the 28th Chief Justice in January 2025, per the court's official biography. He previously served as General Counsel to Gov. Greg Abbott.
Top Priorities
Applying the Constitution and law as written rather than 'legislating from the bench', per the campaign site
Maggie Ellis is a justice on the Texas Third Court of Appeals, elected to that court in 2024, per the court's official biography. Before joining the bench she practiced law representing individuals and is Board Certified in Juvenile Law, per the same source.
Top Priorities
Fair treatment of the public and access to the courts, per the campaign site
Voted statewide: on every Texas ballot. 2 candidates.
Chari Kelly (D)
Chari Kelly is a justice on the Texas Third Court of Appeals, elected in 2019, per the court's official biography. Before the bench she was a felony prosecutor in Travis and Comal counties and an Assistant Attorney General, and she is a former U.S. Army paratrooper and captain.
James P. Sullivan is the incumbent on the Texas Supreme Court, appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott in January 2025, per the court's official biography. He previously served as the Governor's General Counsel and as an Assistant Solicitor General, and clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Top Priorities
Applying the Constitution and law as written, per the campaign site
Voted statewide: on every Texas ballot. 2 candidates.
Kristen Hawkins (D)
Kristen Hawkins is the judge of the 11th District Court in Harris County, elected in 2016 and reelected in 2020, per her campaign site. She holds board certifications in Civil Trial Law and Personal Injury Law.
Top Priorities
Civility, professionalism and respect in the legal profession, per the campaign site
Kyle D. Hawkins is the incumbent on the Texas Supreme Court, appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott in October 2025, per the court's official biography. He previously served as Texas Solicitor General.
Top Priorities
Humility, diligence and applying the law as written, per the campaign site
Voted statewide: on every Texas ballot. 2 candidates.
Gisela D. Triana (D)
Gisela D. Triana is a justice on the Texas Third Court of Appeals, elected in 2018, per the court's official biography. She previously spent 14 years as judge of the 200th District Court.
Brett Busby is the incumbent on the Texas Supreme Court, appointed in 2019 and elected in 2020, per the court's official biography. He previously served six years as a justice on the Fourteenth Court of Appeals in Houston.
Top Priorities
Applying laws faithfully without rewriting them from the bench
Expanding access to justice, including a licensing system for legal paraprofessionals
Voted statewide: on every Texas ballot. 3 candidates.
Thomas Smith (R)
Thomas Smith has served as Special Assistant Attorney General for Criminal Justice in the Texas Attorney General's office since 2015, per his campaign site. He earlier practiced civil law and clerked for an Ohio Supreme Court chief justice.
Okey Anyiam is a criminal defense lawyer in Dallas who has practiced law since 1997, per the San Antonio Report. No campaign website was found as of September 15, 2026.
Mark Ash is a candidate for Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 3 on the November 3, 2026 ballot, per the state's certified candidate list. No campaign website was found as of September 15, 2026.
Voted statewide: on every Texas ballot. 2 candidates.
Kevin Patrick Yeary (R) Incumbent
Kevin Patrick Yeary is the Republican candidate for Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 4, and the sitting judge, having served on the court for ten years, per his campaign site.
Audra Riley is the presiding judge of Criminal District Court 3 in Dallas County, per the San Antonio Report. No campaign website was found as of September 15, 2026.
Voted statewide: on every Texas ballot. 2 candidates.
John Messinger (R)
John Messinger is the Republican candidate for Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 9. He is a career appellate prosecutor with the Office of the State Prosecuting Attorney since 2011, previously worked in the McLennan County District Attorney's Office, and is a Baylor Law School graduate, per his campaign site.
Voted statewide: on every Texas ballot. 2 candidates.
Scott Brister (R) Incumbent
Scott Brister is the Republican candidate for Chief Justice of the Fifteenth Court of Appeals, a position he has held since the court's creation in September 2024, per his campaign site. He previously served six years on the Texas Supreme Court, three years as a justice and chief justice of the First and Fourteenth Courts of Appeals, and eleven years as presiding judge of the 234th District Court in Harris County. He is a Duke University and Harvard Law School graduate.
Voted statewide: on every Texas ballot. 2 candidates.
Scott K. Field (R) Incumbent
Scott K. Field is the incumbent Place 2 justice on the Fifteenth Court of Appeals, per the court's official biography. He previously served as the inaugural judge of the 480th District Court in Williamson County. No campaign website was found as of September 15, 2026.
Tom Baker is a U.S. Navy JAG Corps veteran who previously served as an elected justice on the Third Court of Appeals in Austin from 2019 to 2024, per his campaign site.
Top Priorities
Judicial impartiality regardless of party affiliation, per the campaign site
Voted statewide: on every Texas ballot. 2 candidates.
April Farris (R) Incumbent
April Farris is the Republican candidate for the Fifteenth Court of Appeals. She was appointed to the court by Governor Abbott effective September 1, 2024, after previously serving as a justice on the First Court of Appeals, and worked as an appellate litigation partner and assistant solicitor general for the State of Texas, per her campaign site. She is a Harvard Law School graduate and clerked for Fifth Circuit Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod.
Marc M. Meyer is a retired Houston Fire Department captain and paramedic with 20 years of service who now practices law defending health care providers, per his campaign site.
Top Priorities
Protecting individual rights against state power, per the campaign site
Voted only inside this court district or county. 2 candidates.
Todd Frankfort (R)
Todd Frankfort is a Houston attorney with more than 30 years of experience focused on family law, per his campaign site. He is Board Certified in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
Top Priorities
Applying the law as written rather than changing it from the bench, per the campaign site
Veronica Rivas-Molloy is a Justice on the Texas First Court of Appeals seeking reelection, per her campaign site. She has served on the court for five years, authoring more than 250 majority opinions in civil, criminal, probate and family law matters, per her campaign site. Before joining the bench she practiced law for 20 years, including at Baker Botts LLP and Jones Walker LLP, and clerked for U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein Jr., per her campaign site. She is a graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso and the University of Houston Law Center.
Voted only inside this court district or county. 2 candidates.
David M. Gunn (R) Incumbent
David M. Gunn joined the First Court of Appeals in October 2024, per the court's official biography, after more than two decades as an appellate partner at a Houston law firm. No campaign website was found as of September 15, 2026.
Julie Countiss previously served as a justice on the First Court of Appeals, per Houston Chronicle reporting. No campaign website was found as of September 15, 2026.
Voted only inside this court district or county. 2 candidates.
Amy Guerra (D) Incumbent
Amy Guerra, who serves on the bench as Justice Amparo 'Amy' Guerra, is the Democratic candidate for the First Court of Appeals, where she has served since 2021, per her campaign site. She practiced as a private attorney for nearly 20 years, served as a Houston municipal court judge from 2005 to 2010, and was the first Hispanic partner at her law firm.
Jessica Caird is the Republican candidate for the First Court of Appeals. She has served 26 years as an Assistant District Attorney in Harris County, including as Appellate Division Chief since 2021, and is admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court Bar, per her campaign site. She holds a law degree from the University of Houston Law Center.
Voted only inside this court district or county. 2 candidates.
Cory Liu (R)
Cory Liu is the Republican candidate for Chief Justice of the Third Court of Appeals. He currently serves as a district judge in Travis County and previously worked in legal roles for Texas state leaders, per his campaign site. He holds degrees from the University of Chicago and Harvard Law School.
Darlene Byrne is the incumbent Chief Justice of the Third Court of Appeals, elected in 2020, per the court's official biography. She previously presided for 20 years over the 126th Judicial District Court in Travis County. No campaign website was found as of September 15, 2026.
Voted only inside this court district or county. 2 candidates.
Antonia "Toni" Arteaga (D)
Antonia "Toni" Arteaga is a sitting judge of the 57th District Court in Bexar County, first elected in 2008 and now serving her fifth term, per her campaign site. She is running for Chief Justice of the Texas 4th Court of Appeals, which covers 32 counties in South and Central Texas, per the campaign site. She has served as Past President of the Texas Association of District Judges and as a founding member of Texas Latinx Judges, per the campaign site.
Bert Richardson is the Republican candidate for Chief Justice of the Fourth Court of Appeals. He has served as a judge on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals since 2015 and previously spent ten years as judge of the 379th District Court after appointment by Governor Bush, following earlier service as an assistant U.S. attorney and assistant district attorney in Bexar County, per his campaign site. He has 37 years of experience as a trial and appellate lawyer and judge and is board certified in criminal law.
Voted only inside this court district or county. 2 candidates.
Matthew Kolodoski (R)
Matthew Kolodoski is the Republican candidate for the Fifth Court of Appeals, Place 3. He is a partner at a Texas litigation firm, board certified in consumer and commercial law and in insurance law, and previously clerked for U.S. District Judge Irma C. Ramirez, per his campaign site. He is a graduate of the University of Houston and SMU Dedman School of Law.
Amanda Reichek previously served as a justice on the Fifth Court of Appeals from 2019 to 2024, authoring more than 500 appellate opinions, per her campaign site.
Voted only inside this court district or county. 2 candidates.
Benjamin N. Smith (R)
Benjamin N. Smith is the Republican candidate for the Fifth Court of Appeals, Place 6. He currently serves as judge of the 380th Judicial District Court in Collin County, presiding over criminal felony, family and civil cases, per his campaign site.
Monica Purdy is the Democratic candidate for the Fifth Court of Appeals, Place 6. She has served as an associate judge in the Dallas County civil district courts since 2013 and was elected to the bench in November 2020, following more than 30 years of civil litigation experience, per her campaign site. She is a graduate of Spelman College and the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University.
Voted only inside this court district or county. 2 candidates.
Andrea D. Plumlee (D)
Andrea D. Plumlee is a candidate for Court of Appeals, 5th District, Place 8 on the November 3, 2026 ballot, per the state's certified candidate list. No campaign website was found as of September 15, 2026.
Ashley Wysocki is the judge of the 162nd District Court in Dallas County, per Governor's office announcements of her earlier district court appointments. No campaign website was found as of September 15, 2026.
Voted only inside this court district or county. 2 candidates.
Clarissa Silva (R) Incumbent
Clarissa Silva has served on the Thirteenth Court of Appeals, Place 6, since January 1, 2021, per MyRGV reporting. She previously worked as a prosecutor in the Nueces County District Attorney's Office and the San Patricio County Attorney's Office.
Top Priorities
Protecting constitutional principles, due process and fair application of the law, per the campaign site
John Ball practices family and criminal law in McAllen and previously worked in the Hidalgo County District Attorney's Office Border Prosecution Unit, per his campaign site. He is double board certified in Criminal Law and Family Law.
Voted only inside this court district or county. 2 candidates.
Sarah Beth Landau (D)
Sarah Beth Landau served as a justice on the First Court of Appeals from 2019 to 2024, per her campaign site. She previously worked as a federal public defender and commercial litigator.
Top Priorities
Modernizing court operations and expanding legal education access for law students, per the campaign site
Kevin Jewell is the Republican candidate for Chief Justice of the Fourteenth Court of Appeals, where he has served as a justice since being elected on November 8, 2016, per his campaign site. Before joining the bench he spent 23 years in private practice as an appellate litigation shareholder and is board certified in civil appellate law. He holds degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Houston Law Center.
Voted only inside this court district or county. 2 candidates.
Ken Wise (R) Incumbent
Ken Wise is the incumbent Place 7 justice on the Fourteenth Court of Appeals, appointed in October 2013, per the court's official biography. No campaign website was found as of September 15, 2026.
William Demond is the Democratic candidate for the Fourteenth Court of Appeals, Place 7. He currently serves as a staff attorney for the Fifth District Court of Appeals in Dallas and previously practiced as a partner in his own law firms, focusing on constitutional rights litigation for more than a decade, per his campaign site.
