No One Dared To Run Against 70% of Texas District Judges —And That’s the Way It’s Always Been
Statistics show that incumbent judges across Texas enjoy an advantage when they run for reelection. Nearly 70% of the incumbent judges running for reelection this year sailed to another term with absolutely no contest in their primaries or the general election.
This year in Texas, 145 of 341 total judicial candidates, or 43%, had no opponent in either their party primary or the November general election. Among them, 136 were incumbent judges seeking reelection, and all but seven were running for district court benches.
Judicial election observers say that these numbers show how difficult it can be to unseat an incumbent judge–who might be good at his or her job, or at least good enough not to draw the ire of the local bar who would fund the expensive campaign of a challenger.
