Texas Supreme Court elections, 2014

Texas has two high courts. This page covers the 2014 judicial elections for the Texas Supreme Court, which serves as the court of last resort for civil cases. If you are looking for information on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals elections, please see: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals elections, 2014.

Four Republican incumbents were re-elected to the Texas Supreme Court in 2014 by large margins. Nathan Hecht won another term as chief justice, while Jeff Brown, Jeff Boyd and Phil Johnson were all re-elected to associate judge positions.

2015 → ← 2013
Judicial Elections
Judicial elections, 2014
Judicial election dates
Candidates by state
Supreme court elections

Results

Blue represents the Democratic Party, red represents the Republican Party and gray represents another, minor party.

Hecht seat (Chief Justice)
Candidate	Vote %
Nathan Hecht	59.6%
William Moody	37.3%
Tom Oxford	3.1%
98.75% of precincts reporting
Incumbent	Nathan Hecht
Winner	Nathan Hecht

Brown seat (Place 6)
Candidate	Vote %
Jeff Brown	60.4%
Lawrence Meyers	36.5%
Mark Ash	3.2%
98.75% of precincts reporting
Incumbent	Jeff Brown
Winner	Jeff Brown

Boyd seat (Place 6)
Candidate	Vote %
Jeff Boyd	58.9%
Gina Benavides	37.6%
Don Fulton	2.8%
Charles E. Waterbury	0.7%
98.75% of precincts reporting
Incumbent	Jeff Boyd
Winner	Jeff Boyd

Johnson seat (Place 8)
Candidate	Vote %
Phil Johnson	78.8%
RS Roberto Koelsch	12.0%
Jim Chisholm	9.3%
98.75% of precincts reporting
Incumbent	Phil Johnson
Winner	Phil Johnson

Partisan stakes

At the time of the general election, the Texas Supreme Court had nine Republicans and no Democrats on its bench. Four Republican justices sought re-election in 2014.

The key race to watch was Place 6, where Justice Jeff Brown was challenged by a judge of the state's other high court, Lawrence Meyers. Meyers had served on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals since 1992. He was also a Republican for his entire judicial career, but chose to run as a Democrat in this election.

Due to the GOP's dominance in Texas, the Republican primaries were pivotal in 2014. This was especially true for the Place 8 seat, for which no Democratic candidates filed.

In 2014, Republicans controlled the governorship, as well as a majority in both legislative houses and both high courts. This is referred to as a trifecta plus by Ballotpedia. Maintaining a strong Republican majority on the state supreme court is favorable to the similarly controlled executive and legislative branches if any new laws face legal challenges. More information on state government trifectas is available here: Ballotpedia: State government trifectas.

Seats not up for election

Justices:

• Don Willett
• Paul Green
• Eva Guzman
• Debra Lehrmann
• John Devine

On the ballot: Hecht seat (Chief justice, Place 1)

2014 candidates for the Texas Supreme Court
Chief Justice
William Moody	Incumbent: No Party: Democratic Primary vote: 100%A Election vote: 37.2%A
Tom Oxford	Incumbent: No Party: Libertarian Primary vote: Election vote: 3.1%A
Robert Talton	Incumbent: No Party: Republican Primary vote: 39.5%A Election vote:
Nathan Hecht	Incumbent: Yes Party: Republican Primary vote: 60.5%A Election vote: 59.7%A

Nathan Hecht served only a few months as the new chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court. Former chief justice Wallace B. Jefferson retired October 1, 2013, and Governor Rick Perry subsequently appointed Hecht as chief justice. He began serving the remainder of Jefferson's term. Hecht served on the state's highest civil court since he was elected in 1988. A judicial election veteran, Hecht has been re-elected four times. At the time of the election, Hecht was the longest serving justice on the court. Hecht is a registered Republican.

Hecht won the Republican primary with 60.48 percent of the vote. Challenger Robert Talton earned 39.58 percent of the votes cast in the primary. Democratic candidate Bill Moody earned 100 percent of the votes cast in the Democratic primary. Moody and Tom Oxford, a Libertarian, ran against Hecht in the general election.

On the ballot: Brown seat (Place 6)

2014 candidates for the Texas Supreme Court
Place 6
Joe Pool, Jr.	Incumbent: No Party: Primary vote: 28.1%A Election vote:
Mark Ash	Incumbent: No Party: Libertarian Primary vote: Election vote: 3.2%A
Lawrence Meyers	Incumbent: No Party: Democratic Primary vote: 100%A Election vote: 36.5%A
Jeff Brown (Texas)	Incumbent: Yes Party: Republican Primary vote: 71.9%A Election vote: 60.3%A

Jeff Brown was appointed to the bench on September 26, 2013, to fill the remainder of Justice Hecht's term after he was elevated to the chief justice seat. Brown served six years on the district court and six years on the court of appeals before being appointed to the supreme court by Governor Rick Perry. Brown garnered 71.91 percent of the vote to win the Republican primary.

Joe Pool, Jr., a GOP challenger who ran for a seat on the court in 2012, was out of the race after the primary election. Pool earned 28.08 percent of the vote. Lawrence Meyers, a judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, earned 100 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary after he switched parties. Mark Ash, a Libertarian candidate, Meyers and Brown all competed for Brown's seat in the general election.

On the ballot: Boyd seat (Place 7)

2014 candidates for the Texas Supreme Court
Place 7
Jeffrey S. Boyd	Incumbent: Yes Party: Republican Primary vote: 100%A Election vote: 58.9%A
Gina Benavides	Incumbent: No Party: Democratic Primary vote: 100%A Election vote: 37.6%A
Don Fulton	Incumbent: No Party: Libertarian Primary vote: Election vote: 2.8%A
Charles E. Waterbury	Incumbent: No Party: Green Primary vote: Election vote: 0.7%A

Jeffrey S. Boyd joined the supreme court in 2012. He faced no Republican challengers and earned 100 percent of the votes cast during the Republican primary. Gina Benavides earned 100 percent of the votes in the Democratic primary. During the general election, he competed against Benavides, Libertarian Don Fulton and Charles E. Waterbury, a Green Party candidate. Boyd did not draw any Republican challengers in the primary, but he was also the only candidate for the Texas Supreme Court and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals who had three challengers in the November general election.

On the ballot: Johnson seat (Place 8)

2014 candidates for the Texas Supreme Court
Place 8
Sharon McCally	Incumbent: No Party: Primary vote: 36.0%A Election vote:
RS Roberto Koelsch	Incumbent: No Party: Libertarian Primary vote: Election vote: 12.0%A
Phil Johnson	Incumbent: Yes Party: Republican Primary vote: 64.0%A Election vote: 78.8%A
Jim Chisholm	Incumbent: No Party: Green Primary vote: Election vote: 9.2%A

Justice Phil Johnson received 64.02 percent of the votes in the Republican primary race for his seat, defeating challenger Sharon McCally, who earned 35.97 percent of the votes. Johnson ran against RS Roberto Koelsch (Libertarian) and Jim Chisholm (Green Party) in the general election.

Voter turnout

According to the website Texas Judges, as of 2014, voter turnout for elections in Texas remained fairly constant. Turnout typically increased by at least 20% during Presidential election years. 58.58 percent of registered voters participated in the 2012 elections. The percentage of eligible voters casting ballots in 2010 was 38 percent.

Even though voters may make it to the polls, according to data from the 2012 elections, they don't always cast votes for candidates running for the Texas Supreme Court or Court of Criminal Appeals. Of the 2012 general eldction voters, 58.6 percent cast a vote for the presidential candidate of their choice. However, votes cast for judges running for seats on the state's highest courts ranged from a low of 44 percent to a high of 56.3 percent.

Former Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson and Lisa Kaufman, general counsel for the Texas Civil Justice League, wrote in an editorial published in the San Antonio News-Express:

“

Judges often have a bigger impact on the lives of average Texans than even the president or the governor.

”

Primary

Votes cast for the four seats on the Texas Supreme Court remained slightly lower than votes cast in other statewide races during the 2014 primary. As an example, statewide, 9.80 percent of registered voters cast ballots in the Republican primary race for Governor on March 4, 2014.

Republican primary races for state supreme court:

• Chief justice seat (Hecht): 8.60% of registered voters
• Seat 6 (Brown): 8.38% of registered voters
• Seat 7 (Boyd): 7.33% of registered voters
• Seat 8 (Johnson): 8.39% of registered voters

Statewide, in the Democratic primary race for governor on March 4, 2014, the secretary of state reported that 4.01 percent of registered voters cast ballots in that race.

Democratic primary races for state supreme court:

• Chief justice seat (Hecht): 3.13% of registered voters
• Seat 6 (Brown): 3.06% of registered voters
• Seat 7 (Boyd): 3.16% of registered voters

Voter turnout for state supreme court seats was still lower than voting percentages of registered voters in other statewide races.

Political composition

The political composition of the Texas Supreme Court has shifted over several decades, beginning in the 1980s. During that period, lawsuits related to personal injuries, including car accidents and premises liability claims, increased. Trial attorneys began supporting judicial candidates—many of whom were Democrats—who were seen as more favorable to plaintiffs in civil litigation. These developments coincided with rising insurance premiums and large jury awards that received public attention.

A 1987 60 Minutes segment titled "Justice for Sale?" highlighted concerns about campaign contributions and judicial impartiality, leading to increased scrutiny of the court. The following year, several justices were voted out of office. Advocacy organizations such as Texans for Lawsuit Reform supported tort reform measures, and in 1995, the legislature passed laws limiting certain types of civil litigation. These changes made it more difficult to bring some lawsuits to trial and placed caps on damage awards, including punitive damages.

By 1999, there were no Democratic justices remaining on the court. Heading into the 2014 elections, all nine justices were Republicans. That year, a Democratic candidate ran for each open seat.

In a 2013 interview, attorney Mike Hatchell, a partner at Locke Lord who had followed the court for several decades, told the Dallas News the court "is split between justices who are conservative and those who are very conservative."

Between 2000 and 2013, Governor Rick Perry appointed ten justices to the court. Seven of the nine justices serving as of early 2014 were Perry appointees. The Texas Supreme Court serves as the court of last resort for civil matters in the state, and the judicial philosophies of its members can influence rulings in areas such as tort reform, contracts, and regulatory matters.

Some observers described Perry’s appointments as part of a broader pro-business approach. An article in The Nation quoted former Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower, who referred to Perry as an "exuberant corporate Republican."

A 2012 report by the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning organization, characterized the court as having adopted a more business-friendly posture during this time. The report examined rulings from 1992 to 2011 and found that the court sided with corporate defendants over individual plaintiffs in 69 out of 100 cases. It also cited a 2007 ruling authored by Justice Don Willett that limited the ability of contract employees to sue their employers, a decision the report claimed expanded legal doctrine in ways the state legislature had previously declined to codify.

Bar poll

In early 2014, the State Bar of Texas asked attorney members to cast a vote in favor of their preferred candidate for various judicial races. Below are the poll results for the supreme court races.

Chief Justice
Candidate:	Votes:
Nathan Hecht	5945
William Moody	2681
Tom Oxford	1013
Robert Talton	1164

Place 6 Justice
Candidate:	Votes:
Mark Ash	699
Jeff Brown	3907
Lawrence Edward Meyers	3263
Joe Pool	1672

Place 7 Justice
Candidate:	Votes:
Gina Benavides	4039
Jeffrey S. Boyd	3435
Don Fulton	1207
Charles E. Waterbury	533

Place 8 Justice
Candidate:	Votes:
James Allen Chisholm	973
Phil Johnson	4244
RS Roberto Koelsch	835
Sharon McCally	2828

Dollars and sense

The main campaign finance reports that must be filed by all candidates are the semiannual reports. These are due by January 15 and July 15 of each year. For more information, see: Texas judicial elections - Campaign finance.

Contributions

Total contributions received and reported as of November 4, 2014:

Place 1

Candidate	Total contributions
Nathan L. Hecht	$1,390,222.55
William Moody	$16,900.00
Tom Oxford	$0.00

Place 6:

Candidate	Total contributions
Jeff Brown	$658,101.00
Mark Ash	$0.00
Lawrence Meyers	$1,000.00

Place 7:

Candidate	Total contributions
Jeffrey S. Boyd	$413,031.77
Gina Benavides	$59,887.89
Don Fulton	$0.00
Charles E. Waterbury	$0.00

Place 8:

Candidate	Total contributions
Phil Johnson	$837,428.20
RS Roberto Koelsch	$3.00
Jim Chisholm	$0.00

See also

• Texas Court of Criminal Appeals elections, 2014
• Texas judicial elections, 2014
• Texas Supreme Court
• Texas Court of Criminal Appeals

External links

• Texas Secretary of State, "Elections Division"
• Texas Ethics Commission, "Campaign Finance Guide for Judicial Candidates and Officeholders"
• Texas Politics, "The Justice System"
• The Dallas Morning News, "Voter Guide"
• League of Women Voters of Texas, "Voters Guide"
• Gavel Grab, "Advertising begins in Texas Supreme Court primary," February 20, 2014