Earlier this week, the State Bar of Texas released the results of its member poll about judicial candidates.
The poll asked Texas attorneys to choose a preferred candidate from the entire field, regardless of party affiliation. (( More than 13% of Texas attorneys participated. )) Although I list each candidate’s party affiliation below, the official bar poll results do not.
The envelope please…
Place 3
In this very crowded field, the plurality winner was Jim Sharp of Houston, the Democrat in the race. Close behind were Republicans Jeff Brown (also of Houston) and Rebecca Simmons (of San Antonio).
| Jeff Brown (R) | 1,834 | 19.2% |
| Rick Green (R) | 519 | 5.4% |
| Debra Lehrmann (R) | 1,181 | 12.4% |
| Jim Moseley (R) | 1,143 | 12.0% |
| Jim Sharp (D) | 1,897 | 19.9% |
| Rebecca Simmons (R) | 1,781 | 18.7% |
| Rick Strange (R) | 849 | 8.9% |
| William Bryan Strange, III (L) | 328 | 3.4% |
Focusing just on the voters who chose one of the Republican candidates, the two leaders were Brown with 25.1% and Simmons with 24.4%.
If none of the Republican candidates get a majority, the top two vote-getters will qualify for a runoff.
Place 5
This seat does not have a contested primary. The incumbent Justice Paul Green won a majority.
| Paul Green (R) | 4,309 | 51.0% |
| Bill Moody (D) | 2,841 | 33.6% |
| Tom Oxford (L) | 1,306 | 15.4% |
Place 9
The plurality winner was the incumbent, Justice Eva Guzman. She is in a contested Republican primary with Justice Rose Vela of Corpus Christi.
| Jack Armstrong (L) | 1,117 | 12.2% |
| Blake Bailey (D) | 2,301 | 25.2% |
| Eva Guzman (R) | 4,097 | 44.8% |
| Rose Vela (R) | 1,627 | 17.8% |
Focusing just on the voters who chose one of those two Republicans, the breakdown was 71.6% for Guzman and 28.4% for Vela.