Texas Supreme Court 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 Supreme Court 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

Incumbents Justice Debra Lehrmann (R), Justice Paul Green (R), and Justice Eva Guzman (R) were all re-elected to serve a six-year term.

Each justice faced and defeated a primary challenger.

Republicans held a 9-0 majority on the court and continue to hold it after the election.

Race background

Each of the three incumbents defeated a challenger in the Republican primary, and each faced a Democrat in the November general election.

• Incumbent Justice Lehrmann defeated primary opponent Michael Massengale, a judge on the first district court of appeals. The Democrat running for Lehrmann's seat was Mike Westergren.
  

• Incumbent Justice Paul Green defeated primary opponent Rick Green, a conservative activist, former state legislator, and an unsuccessful candidate for the bench in 2010. The Democrat running for Green's seat was Dori Garza, a judge on the thirteenth district court of appeals.
  

• Incumbent Justice Guzman defeated primary opponent Joe Pool, Jr., an attorney and a third-time candidate for the court (having previously run unsuccessfully in 2012 and 2014). The Democrat running for Guzman's seat was Savannah Robinson.

General election candidates

Place 3

■ Mike Westergren (D)
■ Debra Lehrmann (R) (Incumbent)
■ Kathie Glass (Lib.)
■ Rodolfo Rivera Munoz (Green)

Place 5

■ Dori Garza (D)
■ Paul Green (R) (Incumbent)
■ Tom Oxford (Lib.)
■ Charles E. Waterbury (Green)

Place 9

■ Savannah Robinson (D)
■ Eva Guzman (R) (Incumbent)
■ Don Fulton (Lib.)
■ Jim Chisholm (Green)

Election results

November 8 general election

Incumbent Debra Lehrmann defeated Mike Westergren, Kathie Glass and Rodolfo Rivera Munoz in the general election for the Texas Supreme Court, Place 3.

Texas Supreme Court, Place 3, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Debra Lehrmann Incumbent	54.84%	4,807,986
	Democratic	Mike Westergren	38.53%	3,378,163
	Libertarian	Kathie Glass	3.97%	348,376
	Green	Rodolfo Rivera Munoz	2.65%	232,646
Total Votes (100% reporting)				8,767,171
Source: Texas Secretary of State Official Results

Incumbent Paul Green defeated Dori Garza, Tom Oxford and Charles E. Waterbury in the general election for the Texas Supreme Court, Place 5.

Texas Supreme Court, Place 5, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Paul Green Incumbent	54.30%	4,758,334
	Democratic	Dori Garza	41.18%	3,608,634
	Libertarian	Tom Oxford	3.29%	288,504
	Green	Charles E. Waterbury	1.23%	107,731
Total Votes (100% reporting)				8,763,203
Source: Texas Secretary of State Official Results

Incumbent Eva Guzman defeated Savannah Robinson, Don Fulton and Jim Chisholm in the general election for the Texas Supreme Court, Place 9.

Texas Supreme Court, Place 9, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Eva Guzman Incumbent	55.80%	4,884,441
	Democratic	Savannah Robinson	39.36%	3,445,959
	Libertarian	Don Fulton	3.48%	304,587
	Green	Jim Chisholm	1.36%	119,022
Total Votes (100% reporting)				8,754,009
Source: Texas Secretary of State Official Results

March 1 primary election

Place 3

Texas Supreme Court, Place 3, Democratic Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Mike Westergren  (unopposed)	100.00%	986,878
Total Votes (100% Reporting)				986,878
Source: Texas Secretary of State Official Results

Texas Supreme Court, Place 3, Republican Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Debra Lehrmann Incumbent	52.22%	1,131,998
	Republican	Michael Massengale	47.78%	1,035,840
Total Votes (100% Reporting)				2,167,838
Source: Texas Secretary of State Official Results

Place 5

Texas Supreme Court, Place 5, Democratic Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Dori Garza  (unopposed)	100.00%	1,022,469
Total Votes (100% Reporting)				1,022,469
Source: Texas Secretary of State Official Results

Texas Supreme Court, Place 5, Republican Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Paul Green Incumbent	52.06%	1,078,689
	Republican	Rick Green	47.94%	993,441
Total Votes (100% Reporting)				2,072,130
Source: Texas Secretary of State Official Results

Place 9

Texas Supreme Court, Place 9, Democratic Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Savannah Robinson  (unopposed)	100.00%	991,329
Total Votes (100% Reporting)				991,329
Source: Texas Secretary of State Official Results

Texas Supreme Court, Place 9, Republican Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Eva Guzman Incumbent	59.17%	1,268,415
	Republican	Joe Pool, Jr.	40.83%	875,224
Total Votes (100% Reporting)				2,143,639
Source: Texas Secretary of State Official Results

Political composition

Texas' supreme court justices are elected in partisan elections. The court had a 9-0 Republican majority prior to the 2016 election.

Current justices

Chief Justice Nathan Hecht
Justice Don Willett
Justice Paul Green
Justice Phil Johnson
Justice Eva Guzman
Justice Jeff Brown
Justice Debra Lehrmann
Justice John Devine
Justice Jeffrey S. Boyd

Selection

See also: Judicial selection in Texas

The nine justices are elected to staggered six-year terms in statewide partisan elections. The nine seats are referred to by place numbers 1 through 9. The place numbers have no special meaning, as all justices are elected statewide, except that the chief justice position is considered "Place 1."

If a vacancy occurs, the governor appoints a replacement, who then must be confirmed by the Texas Senate. The justice serves for the remainder of the unexpired term.

The chief justice runs as such in the general election and is selected by the state's voters.

Qualifications

In order to serve on the court, a candidate must:

• be a citizen of the United States;
• hold state residency;
• be licensed to practice law in Texas;
• be older than 35 and younger than 74; and
• have practiced law or been a judge for 10 years.

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

• Elections in Texas
• United States congressional delegations from Texas
• Public policy in Texas
• Endorsers in Texas
• Texas fact checks
• More...

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Texas supreme court' OR 'Texas court election' OR 'Texas elections 2016'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Texas Supreme Court elections, 2016 - Google News

External links

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• Supreme Court of Texas

Footnotes

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Texas courts

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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