By Mackenzie Grizzard | Staff Writer
Targeted for their rulings on recent abortion cases, the three Republican Texas Supreme Court justices up for reelection successfully fended off Democratic opposition, retaining all nine seats.
In Place 2, incumbent Jimmy Blacklock defeated Democrat DaSean Jones by a large 18% margin.
Blacklock was appointed by Gov. Gregg Abbott in 2018 and previously worked under the governor at the Office of the Attorney General, where he presided over several high-profile cases in the state of Texas.
For Place 4, incumbent John Devine won a slightly closer race against Democrat Christine Vinh Weems with a 16% margin.
Devine has served on the court since 2013 and re-announced his candidacy despite being involved in a number of controversies during his term, including a leaked audio of him bashing his fellow justices for “bowing to the altar of progress.” Despite this, he will re-join his fellow judges for another term.
In Place 6, incumbent Jane Bland fended off Democratic candidate Bonnie Goldstein and Libertarian J. David Robinson to retain her seat, winning by a 17% margin.
Justice Bland has served on the Texas Supreme Court since 2019 and was appointed by Gov. Gregg Abbott. She previously served as a justice on the Texas Court of Appeals from 2003 to 2018.
According to the Texas Court’s official website, the Texas Supreme Court is the state’s “court of last resort” for civil matters. Texas is one of only two states with such a court.
Dr. Pat Flavin, Bob Bullock professor and interim chair of Baylor’s political science department, described the partisan trends usually seen in local state elections.
“My expectation would be [that] those that tend to be lower-profile races where people don’t know much about the candidates, and they are just going to vote based solely on party label,” Flavin said.
Houston junior Taylor Jones identifies politically as a Democrat but said she wouldn’t necessary be opposed to voting Republican.
“I would probably be more likely to vote blue down the ballot, but if there was a Republican candidate that conveyed principles I agreed with, I wouldn’t be opposed to voting for a Republican,” Jones said.
According to Flavin, during election season, virtually zero states “split their ticket” between offices, meaning party affiliation is the same with all elected positions.
“That has very much been a trend in American politics, that states up and down the ballot vote for the same [party], and that wasn’t the case 20 years ago,” Flavin said.
Texas followed this trend down the ballot, with Trump winning the Lone Star State over Harris by more than 10 percentage points. In the U.S. Senate race, Republican incumbent Ted Cruz defeated Colin Allred by over a 10% margin as well.
“How well your partisanship predicts who you’re going to vote for has become much stronger over time,” Flavin said. “It’s sort of commonsensical that Republicans vote uniformly for Republican candidates.”
