Bert Richardson
Bert Richardson (Republican Party) is a judge for Place 3 of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. He assumed office on January 1, 2015. His current term ends on December 31, 2026.
Richardson (Republican Party) is running for election for the Chief Justice judge of the Texas Fourth District Court of Appeals. He declared candidacy for the Republican primary scheduled on March 3, 2026.[source]
Richardson first became a member of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals through a partisan election. To read more about judicial selection in Texas, click here.
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country. As part of this study, we assigned each justice a Confidence Score describing our confidence in the degree of partisanship exhibited by the justices' past partisan behavior, before they joined the court.[1] Richardson received a confidence score of Mild Republican.[2] Click here to read more about this study.
Biography
Richardson received his bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University in 1982 and J.D. from St. Mary's University School of Law in 1987.[3] He previously worked as an assistant district attorney for Bexar County and an assistant U.S. attorney.[4]
Elections
2026
See also: Texas intermediate appellate court elections, 2026
General election
The primary will occur on March 3, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
Democratic primary
Democratic primary for Texas Fourth District Court of Appeals Chief Justice
Antonia Arteaga (D) and Velia Meza (D) are running in the Democratic primary for Texas Fourth District Court of Appeals Chief Justice on March 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Antonia Arteaga | |
 | Velia Meza | |
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Republican primary
Republican primary for Texas Fourth District Court of Appeals Chief Justice
Bert Richardson (R) is running in the Republican primary for Texas Fourth District Court of Appeals Chief Justice on March 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Bert Richardson | |
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Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
2020
See also: Texas intermediate appellate court elections, 2020
General election
General election for Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Place 3
Incumbent Bert Richardson defeated Elizabeth Davis Frizell in the general election for Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Place 3 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Bert Richardson (R) | 54.5 | 5,953,924 |
 | Elizabeth Davis Frizell (D) | 45.5 | 4,964,460 | |
| Total votes: 10,918,384 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Place 3
Elizabeth Davis Frizell defeated Dan Wood and William Demond in the Democratic primary for Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Place 3 on March 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Elizabeth Davis Frizell | 68.7 | 1,184,280 |
 | Dan Wood | 19.2 | 331,715 | |
 | William Demond | 12.0 | 207,651 | |
| Total votes: 1,723,646 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Place 3
Incumbent Bert Richardson defeated Gina Parker in the Republican primary for Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Place 3 on March 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Bert Richardson | 51.8 | 897,496 |
 | Gina Parker | 48.2 | 833,893 | |
| Total votes: 1,731,389 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
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2014
Richardson was elected to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in 2014. He won the Republican primary on March 4, 2014. He defeated Mark Bennett (L) and John Granberg (D) in the general election on November 4, 2014, receiving 59.8% of the vote.[5]
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
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Campaign finance summary
Campaign finance information for this candidate is not yet available from OpenSecrets. That information will be published here once it is available.
Analysis
Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)
Last updated: June 15, 2020
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.
The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The scores were based on seven factors, including but not limited to party registration.[6]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[7]
- Mild Republican
- Strong Republican
This justice's Confidence Score, as well as the factors contributing to that score, is presented below. The information below was current as of June 2020.
Bert
Richardson
Texas
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Mild Republican - Judicial Selection Method:
Elected - Key Factors:
- Was a registered Republican
- Donated less than $2,000 to Republican candidates
- Endorsed by Republican-affiliated individuals or organizations
Partisan Profile
Details:
Richardson ran as a Republican for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. He donated $200 to Republican candidates. He was endorsed by Grassroots America We the People, the Harris County Republican Party, and the The Texas Coalition of Christian Candidates. He received $5,000 from Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC, which donates more frequently to Republican candidates than Democrats. When he was elected, the state of Texas was a Republican trifecta.
Court of Criminal Appeals judicial selection in Texas
- See also: Judicial selection in Texas
The nine judges of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals are selected in statewide partisan elections. The elected justices and judges serve six-year terms, after which they must run for re-election if they wish to remain on the court.[8]
Qualifications
To serve on any of the appellate courts, a judge must be:
- a U.S. citizen;
- a resident of Texas;
- licensed to practice law in the state;
- between the ages of 35 and 75;*[9][10] and
- a practicing lawyer and/or judge for at least 10 years.[8]
Presiding judge
The presiding judge of the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals is selected by voters at large. He or she serves in that capacity for a full six-year term.[8]
Vacancies
In the event of a midterm vacancy, the governor appoints a replacement who must be confirmed by the Texas Senate. The appointee serves until the next general election, in which he or she may compete to serve for the remainder of the unexpired term.[8]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ We calculated confidence scores by collecting several data points such as party registration, donations, and previous political campaigns.
- ↑ The five possible confidence scores were: Strong Democrat, Mild Democrat, Indeterminate, Mild Republican, and Strong Republican.
- ↑ Victoria Advocate, "League of Women Voters: Texas Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals Place 3," April 5, 2021
- ↑ Texas Judicial Branch, "Judge Bert Richardson," accessed July 30, 2021
- ↑ Texas SOS, "2014 General Election Results," accessed July 30, 2021
- ↑ The seven factors were party registration, donations made to partisan candidates, donations made to political parties, donations received from political parties or bodies with clear political affiliation, participation in political campaigns, the partisanship of the body responsible for appointing the justice, and state trifecta status when the justice joined the court.
- ↑ An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedTXgeneral - ↑ Texas State Historical Association, "Judiciary," accessed September 12, 2014
- ↑ While no judge older than 74 may run for office, sitting judges who turn 75 are permitted to remain on the court until their terms expire.
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
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