JP Election Brief: Results from Texas and more!

May 31, 2012

by: the State Court Staff

Every Thursday, Judgepedia's State Court Staff examines events in the world of judicial elections across the nation. Make sure to use Judgepedia's Election Central the rest of the week as a hub for all your judicial election needs.

Important dates

Primary elections

• June 5: Primary election in California
• June 5: Primary election in New Mexico
• June 5: Primary election in Montana

Filing deadlines

• June 1: Filing deadline in Wyoming
• June 5: Filing deadline in Minnesota

Want to know more about Judgepedia's 2012 election coverage?
Check out Judgepedia's Election Central for details!

In the News

Texas Supreme Court primary results

The Texas primary election took place Tuesday, May 29, 2012, narrowing the field for the November general election. In the Texas Supreme Court elections for places 2, 4, and 6 two candidates have been eliminated thus far, with a primary runoff election to take place for one of the seats.

Place 2: In the race for place 2 between current justice Don Willett and former Supreme Court justice, and current District Court judge, Steve Smith, Smith was eliminated. Smith and Willett also competed against one another in the 2006 race, which was close: Willett earned 50.5% of the vote while Smith earned 49.5%. This year's race gave Willett a much more comfortable margin: Willett earned 57.7% of the vote while Smith earned just 42.2%. Willett will face off against Libertarian Robert Stuart Koelsch in the general election.

Place 4: In place 4 Republican incumbent David Medina faced fellow Republican challengers Joe Pool, Jr. and John Devine. As of the May 30, Pool had 28.8% of the vote, Devine had 32.2% of the vote, and incumbent Medina had 39%. Pool has been eliminated from the race, while Medina and Devine will compete in a runoff on July 31, 2012. The winner of the runoff will face Libertarian candidate Tom Oxford and Green Party candidate Charles E. Waterbury.

Place 6: Though Michele Petty, the Democratic candidate challenging Republican incumbent justice Nathan Hecht, filed a lawsuit on May 11, 2012 seeking to delay the printing of ballots and other GOP primary materials the primary went ahead without interruption. Petty and Hecht were both unchallenged in their respective primaries, and the two will face off again in the general election. The two will also face Libertarian candidate Mark Ash and Green Party candidate Jim Chisholm.

Races force July runoff

In addition to the Place 4 Supreme Court election, two Texas Court of Appeals races will head to a runoff on July 31. Runoffs are set to occur in Texas when no candidate in a primary receives more than 50% of the vote.

Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals

David Evans and Bill Whitehill will compete for Place 2 in July, winning 32.4% and 26.06% of the vote on Tuesday, respectively. Evans is a judge for Texas District 48, while Whitehill has been an attorney for over thirty years. The candidates are Republicans. The winner of the runoff election will run unopposed in the general.

Texas Eighth District Court of Appeals

The votes for Yvonne Rodriguez and Marcos Lizarraga also forced a July runoff. Rodriguez was a judge on the El Paso County Probate Court, and Lizarraga is a judge for Texas District 168. In the Democratic primary this week, Rodriguez won 38% of the vote, while Lizarraga took home 32.6%. Whoever wins that primary will challenge incumbent Judge Christopher Antcliff on November 6.

Maricopa County experiments with the future of elections

Judicial elections in Maricopa County, Arizona may be getting a technological facelift this fall, thanks to a new system that allows for the electronic processing of provisional ballots.

For the first time, during the February 28 presidential primary, all provisional ballots cast in Maricopa County were processed electronically, using a new system developed by the county election office's IT staff. Each ballot was scanned into a computer to be processed by a system that checked multiple factors to determine voter eligibility, including registration status, age, and polling place location. The system flagged any ballots that had potential voter eligibility issues and automatically updated voter registration information if it detected any change in residence address, mailing address, or voter name.

During major elections, there are often thousands of provisional ballots cast in Maricopa County alone. In the past, all provisional ballots cast in the county were processed by hand, which required a significant amount of time. According to Maricopa County officials, automating the processing of provisional ballots during the fall election should save the county at least $15,000.

Chief Justice speaks out against excessive campaign spending

Chief Justice Thomas Kilbride, of the Illinois Supreme Court, believes that unlimited campaign spending is hurting the election process. He believes the increase in campaign spending following the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling has caused more negative ads in Illinois, as well as Iowa. "It works in diminishing citizen participation and it works in dampening the enthusiasm of a citizen voter to show up on Election Day," he stated. He said he thinks about $5,000, to cover the cost of travel, should be the cap for campaign contributions.

Justice Kilbride has some personal experience regarding this matter. In 2010, he amassed over $2.6 million for his retention campaign.

Are you running for election?

If so, fill out our candidate information submission form and we will create a candidate page for you!