Randy Sarosdy

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Randy Sarosdy

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

March 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

College of William and Mary, 1974

Law

University of Texas School of Law, 1977

Personal

Birthplace

Dallas, Texas

Religion

United Church of Christ

Profession

Attorney

Contact

Campaign website

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Randy Sarosdy (Democratic Party) ran for election for the Place 2 judge of the Texas Supreme Court. He lost in the Democratic primary on March 5, 2024.

Sarosdy completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Randy Sarosdy was born in Dallas, Texas. Sarosdy graduated from Killeen High School. He earned an undergraduate degree from the College of William and Mary in Virginia in 1974 and a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law in 1977, where he was an associate editor of the Texas Law Review. Sarosdy's career experience includes working as an attorney at the law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld and as general counsel of the Texas Justice Court Training Center. Sarosdy also worked as executive director of the Texas Center for the Judiciary.

Elections

2024

See also: Texas Supreme Court elections, 2024

General election

General election for Texas Supreme Court Place 2

Incumbent Jimmy Blacklock defeated DaSean Jones in the general election for Texas Supreme Court Place 2 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jimmy Blacklock (R)	58.2	6,372,584
		DaSean Jones (D)	41.8	4,571,171

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 10,943,755
= 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 Texas Supreme Court Place 2

DaSean Jones defeated Randy Sarosdy in the Democratic primary for Texas Supreme Court Place 2 on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		DaSean Jones	59.6	529,623
		Randy Sarosdy	40.4	359,402

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 889,025
= 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 Texas Supreme Court Place 2

Incumbent Jimmy Blacklock advanced from the Republican primary for Texas Supreme Court Place 2 on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jimmy Blacklock	100.0	1,749,450

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,749,450
= 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

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Sarosdy in this election.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Randy Sarosdy completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Sarosdy's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a native Texan. Upon graduating from law school at the University of Texas I practiced law for 30 years in Washington, D.C. and Austin, specializing in complex commercial, energy, class action, labor and intellectual property cases throughout the country. I then taught judges throughout Texas for 15 years, serving as General Counsel of the Texas Justice Court Training Center and as Executive Director of the Texas Center for the Judiciary. If elected I will apply the law fairly and impartially, without political influence or partisan consideration, and do my best to ensure that all persons are treated equally under the law and that our fundamental rights are fully protected under the Texas and U.S. Constitutions. For more information please see www.randyforjudge.org.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• I believe it is critical that we have judges on the Texas Supreme Court who are willing to protect our fundamental rights. Those rights are not guaranteed solely by the United States Constitution; they are protected as much or more by the Texas Constitution, which has its own Bill of Rights in Article 1. If the fundamental rights of the citizens of Texas are no longer deemed protected by the United States Constitution, it may fall to the Texas Supreme Court to carefully consider whether those rights are still protected by the Texas Constitution, if and when a case raising such issues comes before the Court.
• To most people the Texas court system seems complex and bewildering. We need to improve access to justice by making better resources available to the public explaining in clear non-legal terms (in both English and

  Spanish) how the court system works and what to expect from the courts at all levels. We need to continue to help anyone who needs representation

  find experienced counsel whether through the State Bar or Legal Services. Access to justice also means the right to a full and fair hearing, including the right to a jury trial in most cases.
• We must enhance public confidence in the Texas Supreme Court. To do this the Court must maintain its independence from the executive branch and judges must set aside any concern about drawing a primary opponent in the next election should they issue an opinion affirming Constitutional rights with which officials of the executive branch do not agree (as has occurred in this election cycle with all three judges up for re-election on the Court of Criminal Appeals). Public confidence in the judiciary will be further eroded if the public believes judges are afraid to follow the law due to political pressure from other branches of government.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Equal access to justice for all regardless of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin; education; civil rights; protection of workers’ rights including the right to organize.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I have pictures of these four great Americans on the wall of my study at home: Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S Grant; John Kennedy; and Martin Luther King.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

To Kill a Mockingbird: despite the unpopularity of the cause, Atticus Finch defended an innocent man (who was nevertheless convicted).

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

The most important characteristic of any elected official is integrity, honesty and adherence to the rule of law.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

To be fair and impartial, to follow the law (which includes the Constitution) without regard to political considerations or partisan influence, and to ensure that our democratic institutions are safeguarded.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

I saw President Kennedy in Dallas about 20 minutes before his tragic assassination. I was 11 years old.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My first job was when I was a sophomore at Austin High School. Every day after school from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. and on Saturdays I worked for the original Maudie at Maudie's Cafe in Austin. (It was not a Mexican restaurant in those days!) I was the busboy and dish washer and earned 85 cents an hour and got a free dinner of Maudie's homestyle cooking. It was a great job and I was happy to have it.

How would you describe your legal philosophy?

I believe in the rule of law, that the law applies equally to all regardless of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or national origin, and that no one is above the law regardless of status or prior office.

Is there a particular judge, past or present, whom you admire?

Justice Robert Jackson

Do you believe that empathy is an important quality for a judge?

Empathy is an essential quality for a judge.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

As of March 1, 2024: Houston Chronicle, Dallas Morning News, San Antonio Express News, Austin Chronicle, Nacogdoches Daily Sentinel, Texas AFL-CIO (COPE),
Mexican American Bar Association of Houston, University of Texas Student Democrats, Northeast Travis County Democrats, Austin Young Democrats, Pflugerville Area Democrats, McKinney Area Democrats, Preston Hollow Democrats, South Asian Bar Association of Austin, Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio, HarrisCountyDemocrats.com, Texas Moms Making Decisions, Harris County Democratic Endorsed Judicial Candidates, Soy Chicano of Houston, Secular Houston, Hon. Lon Burnam, Hon. David Beebe, Hon. Carlos Lopez.

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

All financial contributions given to a judicial candidate should be available to the public so they may see who helped this judge get elected.

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.

Campaign website

Sarosdy’s campaign website stated the following:

“	Why Support Randy for the Texas Supreme Court? To Safeguard our Democratic Institutions The great Chief Justice John Marshall stated: “It is emphatically the province and duty of the Judicial Department to say what the law is.” For this reason, our courts are essential to the preservation of our democratic institutions, many of which have recently been under attack. The Court must be ever vigilant as the guardian of these institutions which ensure our liberty and freedom. To Protect our Fundamental Rights The fundamental rights of all Texans are not guaranteed solely by the United States Constitution. They are protected as much or more by the Texas Constitution, which has its own Bill of Rights in Article 1. If the fundamental rights of the citizens of Texas are no longer deemed protected by the United States Constitution, it may fall to the Texas Supreme Court to carefully consider whether those rights are still protected by the Texas Constitution, if and when a case raising such issues comes before the Court. To Enhance Public Confidence We must enhance public confidence in the Texas Supreme Court. The Court must maintain its independence and avoid undue influence by members of the executive branch, including the current Attorney General. Judges must set aside any concern about drawing a primary opponent in the next election should they issue an opinion affirming Constitutional rights with which executive branch officials do not agree (as has occurred in this election cycle with all three judges up for re-election on the Court of Criminal Appeals). Public confidence in the judiciary will be eroded if the public believes judges are afraid to follow the law due to political pressure from other government officials. A Pledge to Texas Randy’s pledge, if elected, is to apply the law fairly and impartially, without political influence or partisan consideration, and to do his best to ensure that all Texans are treated equally under the law and that fundamental rights guaranteed by the Texas Constitution are fully safeguarded and protected. Randy’s Unique Perspective I believe in the rule of law, that the law applies equally to all regardless of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or national origin, and that no one is above the law regardless of status or prior office. During my 15 years as a judicial educator, I have travelled and spoken to judges in just about every county in Texas. I often met with judges to discuss how to best handle cases in their courts or how to set bail and bond conditions to better protect the community while ensuring the rights of the accused to a fair trial. I worked closely with them on mental health issues and appointment of counsel for indigent defendants. Every year these judges hear tens of thousands of cases that touch the lives of everyday Texans. What I found is that no matter where a citizen of our state lives – whether in a small rural area or a big city, whether in the High Plains of West Texas or among the pine trees of East Texas, or in the Rio Grande Valley or along the Gulf Coast or Red River – all Texans strive to be good, caring, hard-working people with values of honesty and decency. We teach our children to aspire to these same values. If you have a flat tire on the side of the road, some good-hearted Texan is going to stop and give you a hand – and they are not going to ask you first what your political beliefs are! We need to get back to embracing each other as good, decent fellow citizens (despite our occasional differences) and never demean or disrespect any Texan just because of where they come from or who they might be. I have seen up close the positive side of the ordinary people of this great State as well as the many judges who serve our citizens. If elected, it would be my greatest privilege to work on behalf of all the people of Texas to do my best to provide fair, impartial, and equal justice while ensuring that the fundamental rights of all Texans are fully protected and secured. “And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8.	”
—Randy Sarosdy’s campaign website (2024)

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Randy Sarosdy campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	Texas Supreme Court Place 2	Lost primary	$29,373	$25,004
Grand total			$29,373	$25,004
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

See also

2024 Elections

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Candidate

Texas Supreme Court Place 2

Website

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Footnotes

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