Mary Lou Keel
2017 - Present
2029
8
Mary Lou Keel (Republican Party) is a judge for Place 2 of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. She assumed office on January 1, 2017. Her current term ends on January 1, 2029.
Keel (Republican Party) won re-election for the Place 2 judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals outright after the general election on November 8, 2022, was canceled.
Keel first became a member of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals through a partisan election in 2016. To read more about judicial selection in Texas, click here.
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country. As part of this study, we assigned each justice a Confidence Score describing our confidence in the degree of partisanship exhibited by the justices' past partisan behavior, before they joined the court.[1] Keel received a confidence score of Mild Republican.[2] Click here to read more about this study.
She was previously a judge in Texas District 232.[3]
Biography
Keel received a B.A. in English from the University of Texas in 1982 and a J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center in 1985.[4]
She was an assistant district attorney in Harris County. She also served as a briefing attorney for the First Court of Appeals from 1985 to 1986.[4]
Elections
2022
See also: Texas Supreme Court elections, 2022
General election
The general election was canceled. Incumbent Mary Lou Keel won election in the general election for Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Place 2.
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Place 2
Incumbent Mary Lou Keel advanced from the Republican primary for Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Place 2 on March 1, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Mary Lou Keel | 100.0 | 1,485,583 |
| Total votes: 1,485,583 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Campaign finance
2016
- See also: Texas judicial elections, 2016
Election results
November 8 general election
| Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 2, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Mary Lou Keel |
54.88% | 4,790,800 | |
| Democratic | Lawrence Meyers Incumbent | 40.05% | 3,496,205 | |
| Libertarian | Mark Ash | 3.68% | 321,568 | |
| Green | Adam Reposa | 1.39% | 121,467 | |
| Total Votes (100% reporting) | 8,730,040 | |||
| Source: Texas Secretary of State Official Results | ||||
May 24 primary runoff
| Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Republican Runoff, Place 2, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Mary Lou Keel |
50.87% | 184,405 | |
| Republican | Ray Wheless | 49.13% | 178,114 | |
| Total Votes (100% Reporting) | 362,519 | |||
| Source: Texas Secretary of State Official Results | ||||
March 1 primary election
| Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 2, Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Mary Lou Keel |
39.42% | 785,448 | |
| Republican | Ray Wheless |
35.43% | 705,909 | |
| Republican | Chris Oldner | 25.15% | 501,063 | |
| Total Votes (100% Reporting) | 1,992,420 | |||
| Source: Texas Secretary of State Official Results | ||||
2014
- See also: Texas judicial elections, 2014
Keel ran for re-election to the 232nd District Court. She ran unopposed in the Republican primary on March 4, 2014, and she won without opposition in the general election on November 4, 2014.
2010
Keel defeated Greg Glass (D) in the general election, winning 56.8% of the vote.[5]
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Mary Lou Keel did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Analysis
Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)
Last updated: June 15, 2020
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.
The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The scores were based on seven factors, including but not limited to party registration.[6]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[7]
- Mild Republican
- Strong Republican
This justice's Confidence Score, as well as the factors contributing to that score, is presented below. The information below was current as of June 2020.
Mary Lou
Keel
Texas
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Mild Republican - Judicial Selection Method:
Elected - Key Factors:
- Was a registered Republican
- Donated less than $2,000 to Republican candidates
- Received donations from Republican-affiliated individuals or organizations
Partisan Profile
Details:
Keel ran as a Republican for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. She donated $1,165 to Republican candidates. She received $2,500 from Vinson & Elkins Texas PAC and $1,000 from the Republican Women of Kerr County PAC. Texas was a Republican trifecta when she was elected.
Court of Criminal Appeals judicial selection in Texas
- See also: Judicial selection in Texas
The nine judges of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals are selected in statewide partisan elections. The elected justices and judges serve six-year terms, after which they must run for re-election if they wish to remain on the court.[8]
Qualifications
To serve on any of the appellate courts, a judge must be:
- a U.S. citizen;
- a resident of Texas;
- licensed to practice law in the state;
- between the ages of 35 and 75;*[9][10] and
- a practicing lawyer and/or judge for at least 10 years.[8]
Presiding judge
The presiding judge of the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals is selected by voters at large. He or she serves in that capacity for a full six-year term.[8]
Vacancies
In the event of a midterm vacancy, the governor appoints a replacement who must be confirmed by the Texas Senate. The appointee serves until the next general election, in which he or she may compete to serve for the remainder of the unexpired term.[8]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
2022 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Place 2 |
Officeholder Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Place 2 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ We calculated confidence scores by collecting several data points such as party registration, donations, and previous political campaigns.
- ↑ The five possible confidence scores were: Strong Democrat, Mild Democrat, Indeterminate, Mild Republican, and Strong Republican.
- ↑ Mary Lou Keel, "About," accessed August 5, 2021
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, "Judge Mary Lou Keel," accessed August 5, 2021
- ↑ Press Reader, "Straight-ticket vote sways judicial races," November 3, 2010
- ↑ The seven factors were party registration, donations made to partisan candidates, donations made to political parties, donations received from political parties or bodies with clear political affiliation, participation in political campaigns, the partisanship of the body responsible for appointing the justice, and state trifecta status when the justice joined the court.
- ↑ An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedTXgeneral - ↑ Texas State Historical Association, "Judiciary," accessed September 12, 2014
- ↑ While no judge older than 74 may run for office, sitting judges who turn 75 are permitted to remain on the court until their terms expire.
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
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