Eric Starnes
Eric Starnes (Republican Party) is a judge for Number 7 of the Tarrant County Criminal Court Texas. He assumed office on January 1, 2023. His current term ends on December 31, 2026.
Starnes (Republican Party) is running for re-election for the Number 7 judge of the Tarrant County Criminal Court Texas. He is on the ballot in the Republican primary on March 3, 2026.[source]
Biography
Eric Starnes was born in Texas. He earned a bachelor's degree from Sam Houston State University in 1993, an M.P.A. from the University of North Texas in 2000, and a J.D. from the Texas Wesleyan School of Law in 2006. His career experience includes working as a lawyer. Previously, he worked for the Euless Police Department as a patrolman and later as Investigations Commander. Starnes has been affiliated with the State Bar of Texas, the Tarrant County Bar Association, and the Tarrant County Republican Party.[1]
Elections
2026
See also: Municipal elections in Tarrant County, Texas (2026)
General election
The primary will occur on March 3, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
Democratic primary
The Democratic primary scheduled for March 3, 2026, was canceled.
Republican primary
The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
Republican primary for Tarrant County Criminal Court No. 7
Incumbent Eric Starnes (R) is running in the Republican primary for Tarrant County Criminal Court No. 7 on March 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Eric Starnes | |
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 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
Starnes received the following endorsements. To send us additional endorsements, click here.
2022
See also: Municipal elections in Tarrant County, Texas (2022)
General election
General election for Tarrant County Criminal Court No. 7
Eric Starnes defeated Marq Clayton in the general election for Tarrant County Criminal Court No. 7 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Eric Starnes (R) | 54.6 | 315,380 |
 | Marq Clayton (D) | 45.4 | 261,818 | |
| Total votes: 577,198 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Tarrant County Criminal Court No. 7
Marq Clayton advanced from the Democratic primary for Tarrant County Criminal Court No. 7 on March 1, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Marq Clayton | 100.0 | 64,561 |
| Total votes: 64,561 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Tarrant County Criminal Court No. 7
Eric Starnes advanced from the Republican primary for Tarrant County Criminal Court No. 7 on March 1, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Eric Starnes | 100.0 | 97,973 |
| Total votes: 97,973 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
To view Starnes' endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
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2022
Eric Starnes completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Starnes' responses.
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A lifelong Texan, Starnes earned his Master of Public Administration from the University of North Texas and his Juris Doctorate at Texas Wesleyan University. His roots in Tarrant County run deep, having served to keep his community safe for nearly three decades within the criminal justice system—both on the street and in the courts.
Spending time on both sides of law enforcement has afforded Starnes a valuable perspective on justice… one that isn’t learned in law school alone. During his more than 23 years of service with the Euless Police Department, he worked his way up from a patrol officer to Lieutenant of Investigations Command. In that capacity he oversaw the coordination of all criminal investigations, while managing a $1.6 million budget and a staff of eighteen.
In addition to his years in private law practice, his dedication to jurisprudence has further led to his becoming both a published writer and a professor, educating students on the laws that surround the basis of the Fourth Amendment’s search and seizure clause—a subject vital to the criminal court system.
- Experienced- nearly 3 decades of criminal justice experience including 15 years as an attorney with criminal and civil experience.
- Knowledgeable- studied and taught areas of law that deal with crimes, such as DWIs, that have a heavy impact on the case load in this court.
- Dedication to neutrality- recognition the trial judge is to remain impartial between the parties, not legislate personal views from the bench, and uphold the laws of the United States and the State of Texas.
Eric Starnes believes in developing efficient and cost effective ways of a managing cases that need to be resolved for the benefit of the citizens of Texas, victims of crime, and the accused defendants. Cases that remain on a docket too long prevent justice for everyone, no matter what the final outcome of a case is.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on August 6, 2022
Federal courts:
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Texas, Western District of Texas, Northern District of Texas, Southern District of Texas • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Texas, Western District of Texas, Northern District of Texas, Southern District of Texas
State courts:
Texas Supreme Court • Texas Court of Appeals • Texas Court of Criminal Appeals • Texas District Courts • Texas County Courts • Texas County Courts at Law • Texas Statutory Probate Courts • Texas Justice of the Peace Courts
State resources:
Courts in Texas • Texas judicial elections • Judicial selection in Texas
