Your feedback ensures we stay focused on the facts that matter to you most—take our survey.
William Knight
William Knight (Republican Party) is a judge for Number 2 of the Tarrant County Criminal District Court in Texas. He assumed office on January 1, 2025. His current term ends on December 31, 2028.
Knight (Republican Party) ran for election for the Number 2 judge of the Tarrant County Criminal District Court in Texas. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Knight completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
William Knight was born in Fort Worth, Texas. He earned a bachelor's degree from Southern Methodist University in 2008, and a graduate degree and law degree from St. Mary's University in 2012. His career experience includes working as an assistant district attorney.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: Municipal elections in Tarrant County, Texas (2024)
General election
General election for Tarrant County Criminal District Court No. 2
William Knight defeated Marq Clayton in the general election for Tarrant County Criminal District Court No. 2 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | William Knight (R)  | 54.5 | 429,443 |
 | Marq Clayton (D) | 45.5 | 358,534 | |
| Total votes: 787,977 | |||
| = 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 Tarrant County Criminal District Court No. 2
Marq Clayton advanced from the Democratic primary for Tarrant County Criminal District Court No. 2 on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Marq Clayton | 100.0 | 58,994 |
| Total votes: 58,994 | |||
| = 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 Tarrant County Criminal District Court No. 2
William Knight defeated Glynis Adams McGinty in the Republican primary for Tarrant County Criminal District Court No. 2 on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | William Knight | 74.5 | 88,949 |
| Glynis Adams McGinty | 25.5 | 30,462 | ||
| Total votes: 119,411 | |||
| = 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
To view Knight's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here. Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Knight in this election.
2022
See also: Municipal elections in Tarrant County, Texas (2022)
General election
The general election was canceled. Incumbent Ryan Hill won election in the general election for Texas 371st District Court.
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Texas 371st District Court
Incumbent Ryan Hill defeated William Knight in the Republican primary for Texas 371st District Court on March 1, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Ryan Hill | 58.5 | 64,502 |
| William Knight | 41.5 | 45,791 | |
| Total votes: 110,293 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
William Knight completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Knight's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
William is a prosecutor and spent years as the Assistant Chief of the District Attorney’s Intimate Partner Violence Unit (IPV) seeking justice for abused men and women. He previously prosecuted child abuse and elderly abuse cases in the Special Victims Unit (SVU). In 2019, Knight was voted Child Abuse Prosecutor of the Year for Tarrant County by his law enforcement peers. William consulted with detectives on numerous complex criminal matters from child sexual abuse to serious intimate partner violence cases and capital murder. William has also lectured for police departments on best practices for criminal investigations. He was named Top Attorney in Criminal Law for 2021/2022/2023/2024 in Fort Worth Magazine. Knight also lectures at Texas A&M School of Law and for the State Bar of Texas.
Knight is a fourth generation Texan, a twelfth generation American and is a member of Sons of the American Revolution.- My goal is to be a judge with sound judicial temperament that enforces the law with well-reasoned, thoughtful decisions while treating the litigants with fairness and respect.
- Victims deserve to be heard, and defendants deserve due process. It takes a judge with the right kind of temperament and experience to make sure those things happen at the same time. Hire me as the next judge of CDC2 and that is exactly what you’ll get.
- I am the only candidate in the race endorsed by law enforcement, which says a lot for a criminal bench, and I am the only candidate who is Board Certified in Criminal Law. I am the only career prosecutor in my race- that matters. I’ve spent my career holding murderers and child molesters accountable for their actions. I’ve served in two special prosecution units and have experience supervising attorneys. My Special Victims Unit and Intimate Partner Violence Unit experience makes me the ideal candidate to enforce the laws as written.
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.
2022
William Knight did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Tarrant County Criminal District Court No. 2 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 10, 2024
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
