Texas Court of Criminal Appeals elections, 2016

2016 State Judicial Elections
Part 1: Overview
Part 2: Supreme Courts
Part 3: Partisanship
Part 4: Changes in 2016

Three seats on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals were on the general election ballot on November 8, 2016, with a primary held on March 1. Each justice elected to the court serves a six-year term.

HIGHLIGHTS

The seats to be elected were held by Lawrence Meyers (D), Cheryl Johnson (R), and Michael Keasler (R) heading into the election.

Justice Meyers was unopposed in the Democratic primary and was defeated by challenger Mary Lou Keel (R) in the general election. Justice Johnson did not run for re-election; her seat was contested. Justice Keasler defeated a primary challenger.

Republicans hold an 8-1 majority on the court prior to the 2016 election.

Race background

• Justice Meyers (D), Place 2, had no primary opponent in the 2016 elections. He faced Mary Lou Keel (R), who defeated Ray Wheless in the May 24 primary runoff, along with Mark Ash (Lib.) and Adam Reposa (Green) on November 8.

• Justice Cheryl Johnson (R), Place 5, decided to forgo a re-election bid. Scott Walker (R) faced and defeated Brent Webster (R) in the May 24 primary runoff; he faced Betsy Johnson (D), William Bryan Strange (Lib.), and Judith Sanders-Castro (Green) on November 8.

• Justice Michael Keasler (R), Place 6, defeated challenger Richard Dean Davis in the Republican primary election. He faced district court judge Robert D. Burns III (D) and Mark Bennett (Lib.) in the general election.

General election candidates

Place 2

■ Lawrence Meyers (D) (Incumbent)
■ Mary Lou Keel (R)
■ Mark Ash (Lib.)
■ Adam Reposa (Green)

Place 5

■ Betsy Johnson (D)
■ Scott Walker (R)
■ William Bryan Strange (Lib.)
■ Judith Sanders-Castro (Green)

Place 6

■ Robert D. Burns III (D)
■ Michael Keasler (R) (Incumbent)
■ Mark Bennett (Lib.)

Election results

November 8 general election

Mary Lou Keel (R) defeated incumbent Lawrence Meyers (D), Mark Ash (L), and Adam Reposa (G) in the general election for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 2.

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

Scott Walker (Texas) defeated Betsy Johnson (Texas), William Bryan Strange and Judith Sanders-Castro in the general election for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 5.

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 5, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Scott Walker (Texas)	54.75%	4,782,144
	Democratic	Betsy Johnson (Texas)	40.20%	3,511,950
	Libertarian	William Bryan Strange	2.84%	248,109
	Green	Judith Sanders-Castro	2.21%	192,913
Total Votes (100% reporting)				8,735,116
Source: Texas Secretary of State Official Results

Incumbent Michael Keasler defeated Robert D. Burns III and Mark Bennett (Texas) in the general election for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 6.

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 6, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Michael Keasler Incumbent	54.97%	4,785,012
	Democratic	Robert D. Burns III	40.89%	3,558,844
	Libertarian	Mark Bennett (Texas)	4.14%	360,167
Total Votes (100% reporting)				8,704,023
Source: Texas Secretary of State Official Results

May 24 primary runoff

Place 2

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

Place 5

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Republican Runoff, Place 5, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Scott Walker (Texas)	58.02%	206,922
	Republican	Brent Webster	41.98%	149,714
Total Votes (100% Reporting)				356,636
Source: Texas Secretary of State Official Results

March 1 primary election

Place 2

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

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 2, Democratic Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Lawrence Meyers Incumbent (unopposed)	100.00%	971,670
Total Votes (100% Reporting)				971,670
Source: Texas Secretary of State Official Results

Place 5

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 5, Republican Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Scott Walker	41.48%	833,757
	Republican	Brent Webster	20.45%	411,119
	Republican	Steve Smith	19.60%	393,992
	Republican	Sid Harle	18.47%	371,303
Total Votes (100% Reporting)				2,010,171
Source: Texas Secretary of State Official Results

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 5, Democratic Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Betsy Johnson  (unopposed)	100.00%	985,406
Total Votes (100% Reporting)				985,406
Source: Texas Secretary of State Official Results

Place 6

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 6, Republican Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Michael Keasler Incumbent	56.87%	1,102,194
	Republican	Richard Dean Davis	43.13%	835,758
Total Votes (100% Reporting)				1,937,952
Source: Texas Secretary of State Official Results

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 6, Democratic Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Robert D. Burns III  (unopposed)	100.00%	958,408
Total Votes (100% Reporting)				958,408
Source: Texas Secretary of State Official Results

Political composition

Texas' judges of the court of criminal appeals are elected in partisan elections. The court had an 8-1 Republican majority prior to the 2016 election.

Current judges

Judge Sharon Keller
Judge Lawrence Meyers
Judge Cheryl Johnson
Judge Michael Keasler
Judge Barbara Hervey
Judge Elsa Alcala
Judge Bert Richardson
Judge Kevin Patrick Yeary
Judge David Newell

Judicial selection

All judges in Texas are chosen in partisan elections. The governor, subject to senate confirmation, may appoint a judge to serve out the remainder of any unexpired term until the next general election.

Qualifications

A qualified candidate must be between 35 and 74 years of age, a United States citizen and a citizen of Texas. Judicial candidates must also be licensed to practice law in the state and must have practiced law for at least 10 years.

Presiding judge

The position of presiding judge is a separately designated elected seat from the others. Sharon Keller is the presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Justice Keller is a Republican. She was elected as the first woman judge on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in 1994. In 2000, she was elected presiding judge and re-elected in 2006.

State profile

Demographic data for Texas
	Texas	U.S.
Total population:	27,429,639	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	261,232	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	74.9%	73.6%
Black/African American:	11.9%	12.6%
Asian:	4.2%	5.1%
Native American:	0.5%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.1%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.5%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	38.4%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	81.9%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	27.6%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$53,207	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	19.9%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Texas. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Texas

Texas voted Republican in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, one is located in Texas, accounting for 0.5 percent of the total pivot counties.

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Texas had one Retained Pivot County, 0.55 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.

More Texas coverage on Ballotpedia

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• Public policy in Texas
• Endorsers in Texas
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• More...

Recent news

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Texas Court of Criminal Appeals elections, 2016 - Google News

See also

• Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
• Judicial selection in Texas
• Texas judicial elections, 2016