The Dallas Morning News endorsed in the Texas Supreme Court races yesterday, and split 2-1 for the Republicans. The one Democrat they endorsed was Sam Houston (also viewed by the BOR staff as the candidate most likely to win statewide in Texas in November). This is certainly welcome news to the Houston campaign.
Democratic challenger Sam Houston has built solid reputation defending clients against lawsuits and would bring some new ideas to the court. He argues that no one likes lawsuits, but sometimes they are necessary to ensure justice, and that justice is good for business. Mr. Houston, 45, would bring some welcome - and not token - philosophical diversity to the court.
The incumbent in this race says all the right things about being fair and balanced, but Republican Dale Wainwright does not adequately answer criticism about his work ethic. In the last full year statistics were available, for example, he wrote just four signed opinions - the second fewest of any justice on the court and the lowest among the three justices seeking re-election this year. Two of his most recent opinions date to cases heard in 2004.
Justice Wainwright, 47, says there are complex reasons for this, but lives are often on hold waiting for these opinions, and such delays are unacceptable. Justice Wainwright, previously a district judge in Harris County, has a sharp résumé, but voters should send a message to the court that long backlogs will not be tolerated by electing the respected and fresh-thinking Mr. Houston.
Be sure to read the other endorsements (the Place 8 one is somewhat snarky). The DMN endorsed Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson and Republican Phil Johnson for the Place 8 seat.
In one of the worst opinions ever issued by the Texas Supreme Court, the Court today held that, if you are injured by a church, you are screwed.
The decision will have profound implications for every type of tort case that could be brought against a church, although the six justices in the majority seem to think it only involves cases where the injury was the result of some doctrinal action of the church--in this instance, an exorcism.
Bob Perry, the Houston homebuilder and the financier behind the Swift Boat attacks on John Kerry, has contributed over $260,000 combined to the nine Republicans on the Texas Supreme Court.
After today's news that the all-Republican court had overturned an $800,000 verdict against Perry Homes, that $260,000 in contributions sure looks like money well-spent.
Alex Winslow of Texas Watch had this to say, as reported by the AP:
"After years of forcing consumers into a lopsided binding arbitration process, the court today carved out a special decision for the man who gives the court more campaign cash than any other individual in the state," Winslow said.
The Texas Supreme Court favoring big business is nothing new but this example makes it painfully clear whose side the court is on.
When given the choice between an elderly couple who had been wronged by a large corporation and a fat cat Republican contributor, they picked the latter.
Jane Cull said she and her husband, who's 70, were devastated. They've claimed the house they bought from Perry for $233,730 in 1996 had structural and framing defects that eventually caused the home's appraised value to plummet to $41,000 by 2001.
"All we ever wanted was a home with a good foundation so we could retire and enjoy life," Jane Cull told the Houston Chronicle in Saturday's editions. "We've tried in vain and we've worked with the builder and did everything we could to avoid the legal process."
We are lucky to have three excellent Democratic candidates for the Texas Supreme Court: Jim Jordan, Sam Houston and Linda Yanez.
Visit their websites and help give them the resources they need to bring a desperately needed balance to a court that is dangerously outside the mainstream.
Sam Houston beat Baltasar Cruz everywhere except in the four districts that will have Hispanic representatives - HDs 140, 143, 145, and 148, where Houston got a respectable 46%. Linda Yanez, on the other hand, beat Susan Criss everywhere except HD 134, where she got 48%. I confess, I'm amazed at how thoroughly Yanez dominated Criss.
We nominated our most experienced and most electable candidates to take on the corrupt Republican incumbents at the Texas Supreme Court.
As a result of the primary vote, we will take on the incumbents with those Democratic candidates who won nearly all of the newspaper endorsements, who earned the overwhelming majority of endorsements from Democratic organizations and Democratic elected officials, and won the Texas Bar Association poll regarding the qualifications of judicial candidates.
Sam Houston won by almost 250,000 votes (56% to 44%).
Here are a pair of numbers to keep tucked away in the back of your mind: 1,123,899 and 953,584.
Why are those two numbers important? Because Sam Houston got 1,123,899 votes in his contested primary and his Republican opponent got only 953,584 in his uncontested primary.
I am very proud of Baltasar Cruz who was a gentleman in defeat:
I congratulate Sam Houston, Linda Yañez and Jim Jordan (who ran unopposed) on their Democratic primary wins. Sam Houston, unlike Gene Kelly, is a serious candidate whom I now endorse and whom I genuinely hope will win in November. Likewise, I have met and been impressed with Linda Yañez and Jim Jordan, each of whom will also represent the Democratic Party well in the November general election and happily endorse each of them as well.
Justice Linda Yanez also won a hard-fought Democratic nomination, winning her primary by more than 50,000 votes (3% of the vote).
Justice Yanez got 1,028,164 votes in her contested primary while her Republican opponent got only 948,739 votes in his uncontested primary.
It is no wonder why both Justice Yanez and Judge Susan Criss wanted to run against Republican Phil Johnson, who got the fewest votes of any of the Republican incumbents on the Texas Supreme Court (which is unsurprising since he also got the fewest votes in the Texas Bar Association poll regarding the qualifications of judicial candidates of any Republican incumbent on the Texas Supreme Court).
I am tremendously proud of Susan Criss who ran a very tough campaign and who was very gracious:
"It was a great night for my state, my county, my country and my party," Criss said. "I'm happy, believe it or not."
[snip]
Yañez, who holds a seat on the Texas 13th Court of Appeals in Corpus Christi, will face Republican incumbent Phil Johnson in November's general election.
No Democrat has been elected to the Texas Supreme Court in 14 years, but Criss said she was confident her primary opponent would win the seat.
Both Judge Jim Jordan, our Democratic nominee for Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court, and his Republican incumbent opponent were uncontested in their respective primaries.
Judge Jordan received 1,728,522 primary votes compared to just 959,670 primary votes for his Republican opponent.
We have an excellent ticket to take back the Texas Supreme Court in November. Let's get to it!
From a mail piece sent out to many Democrats in Houston listing the endorsements of Sen. Rodney Ellis, Rep. Garnet Coleman, and Rep. Ann Hernandez for an excellent slate of great Democratic primary candidates:
"Let's pick the strongest ticket from top to bottom."
"These candidates will bring change come November. Please give them your vote."
Here's the slate:
Rick Noriega for U.S. Senate
Sam Houston for Texas Supreme Court, Place 7
Linda Yanez for Texas Supreme Court, Place 8
Tanner Garth for judge of 80th Civil District Court
Jim Wrotenbery for judge of 125th Civil District Court
Robert Shaffer for judge of 152nd Civil District Court
Ruben Guerrero for judge of 174th Criminal District Court
Andres Pererira for judge of 190th Civil District Court
C.O. Brad Bradford for District Attorney
Loren Jackson for District Clerk
David Mincberg for County Judge
Vince Ryan for County Attorney
Adrian Garcia for County Sheriff
Diane Trautman for County Clerk
Art Hall for Texas Railroad Commissioner
Sen. Royce West's endorsement for the slate of Democratic primary candidates who all also received the Dallas County Young Democrats' endorsement:
When you vote to make history in the March 4th Democratic Primary election, please remember to vote all the way down the ballot for these well-qualified Democrats; it's very important.
Rick Noriega for U.S. Senate
Sam Houston for Supreme Court of Texas, Place 7
Linda Reyna Yanez for Supreme Court of Texas, Place 8
Roberto Alonzo for State Rep., Dist. 104
Jim Rea for State Rep., Dist. 105
Eric Moye for Judge 14th Civil Dist. Court
Don Adams for Judge 2nd Criminal Dist. Court
Heath Harris for Judge 3rd Criminal Dist. Court
John Creuzot for Judge 4th Criminal Dist. Court
Lupe Valdez for County Sheriff
Diana Lackey for County Tax Assessor
Rep. Allen Vaught's endorsement for the slate:
Stand with me and the Dallas County Young Democrats for these candidates who offer our Party positive change and fresh ideas for the future.
Sam Houston has been endorsed by the following Texas elected officials (partial list):
State Senators
District 6 - Mario Gallegos
District 13 - Rodney Ellis
District 14 - Kirk Watson
District 15 - John Whitmire
District 19 - Carlos Uresti
District 20 - Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa
District 29 - Eliot Shapleigh
State Representatives
District 23 - Craig Eiland
District 34 - Abel Herrero
District 37 - Rene Oliveira
District 39 - Armando "Mando" Martinez
District 143 - Ana Hernandez
District 147 - Garnet Coleman
District 148 - Jessica Farrar
Local Officials
Harris Co. Commissioner - El Franco Lee
Harris Co. Commissioner - Sylvia Garcia
Brooks Co. Dem. Chair - Michael Guerra
Cameron Co. Dem. Chair - Gilberto Hinojosa
Hidalgo Co. District Attorney - Rene Guerra
Hidalgo Co. Judge - J.D. Salinas
Mayor of La Joya - Billy Leo
Linda Yanez has been endorsed by the following Texas elected officials (partial list):
Congressional
District 9 - Al Green
District 15 - Rubén Hinojosa
District 16 - Silvestre Reyes
District 18 - Sheila Jackson Lee
District 20 - Charlie Gonzalez
District 23 - Ciro D. Rodriguez
District 25 - Lloyd Doggett
District 27 - Solomon P. Ortiz
District 28 - Henry Cuellar
State Senators
District 6 - Mario Gallegos
District 13 - Rodney Ellis
District 19 - Carlos Uresti
District 20 - Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa
District 21 - Judith Zaffirini
District 23 - Royce West
District 26 - Leticia Van de Putte
District 27 - Eduardo A. "Eddie" Lucio, Jr.
State Representatives
District 31 - Ryan Guillen
District 32 - Juan Garcia
District 34 - Abel Herrero
District 35 - Yvonne Gonzales Toureilles
District 37 - Rene Oliveira
District 38 - Eddie Lucio III
District 39 - Armando "Mando" Martinez
District 40 - Aaron Peña
District 41 - Veronica Gonzales
District 42 - Richard Raymond
District 43 - Juan Escobar
District 45 - Patrick Rose
District 51 - Eddie Rodriguez
District 57 - Jim Dunnam
District 74 - Pete Gallego
District 75 - Chente Quintanilla
District 76 - Norma Chavez
District 77 - Paul Moreno
District 79 - Joe Pickett
District 80 - Tracy O. King
District 90 - Lon Burnam
District 95 - Marc Veasey
District 103 - Rafael Anchía
District 104 - Roberto Alonzo
District 106 - Kirk England
District 107 - Allen Vaught
District 110 - Barbara Mallory Caraway
District 111 - Yvonne Davis
District 116 - Trey Martinez Fischer
District 117 - David Leibowitz
District 118 - Joe Farias
District 123 - Mike Villarreal
District 124 - Jose Menendez
District 125 - Joaquin Castro
District 131 - Alma Allen
District 134 - Ellen Cohen
District 137 - Scott Hochberg
District 139 - Sylvester Turner
District 140 - Kevin Bailey
District 143 - Ana Hernandez
District 145 - Rick Noriega
District 147 - Garnet Coleman
The State Bar poll can be an indicator of the coming elections, and the State Bar poll offers a hope of change for the two high courts in Texas, which both desperately need change.
Congratulations are first due to J.R. Molina, who is running for the Court of Criminal Appeals, place 4. Molina got 3229 votes, the most votes of any candidate in the race (937 more than Republican incumbent Paul Womack and about twice as many as Womack's Republican primary challenger, Robert Francis):
votes
3229 - J.R. Molina
2292 - Paul Womack
1616 - Robert Francis
831 - Dave Howard
Court of Criminal Appeals, place 4, could easily go Democratic in November.
Congratulations are also due to Linda Yanez, who got 346 more votes (over 14% more votes) than her Texas Supreme Court, place 8, primary opponent Susan Criss:
votes
3864 - Phil Johnson
2769 - Linda Yanez
2423 - Susan Criss
589 - Drew Shirley
If you add the votes for the Democratic candidates and compare them against the votes for the Republican incumbent, we win very easily 5192 to 3864. Texas Supreme Court, place 8, could also easily go Democratic in November.
More congratulations are due to Sam Houston, Democrat for Texas Supreme Court, place 8, who got 703 more votes (40% more) than his primary opponent Baltasar Cruz:
votes
4530 - Dale Wainwright
2456 - Sam Houston
1753 - Baltasar Cruz
989 - David Smith
If you add the Democratic votes plus the votes for Libertarian David Smith, we win 5198 to 4530, but the Libertarian vote is the margin which gives us the victory so we need to focus hard on this race.
In the quest to unseat incumbent Justice Dale Wainwright on the all-Republican Texas Supreme Court and to begin the process of rebalancing the scales of justice, we support the candidacy of Democrat Sam Houston. Houston has more than 20 years of experience as a civil attorney in Space City and is board-certified in personal-injury trial law. We believe he has the knowledge and experience necessary to step into the job on Texas' highest civil bench. Houston's assessment that the Supremes have become "results-oriented" in their handling of cases, heavily favoring big-business defendants, is spot-on. His opponent, Dallas attorney Baltasar D. Cruz, is running on a platform of judicial reform - including a plan to change ethics rules to forbid justices from accepting campaign contributions from attorneys with cases pending before the court. We agree that such reforms must be considered but also that turning this court around will take some time and is best begun by electing a more reserved and even-tempered candidate.
Texas Supreme Court, Place 8: Linda Yañez
To face Republican incumbent Phil Johnson in November, Democratic voters have two well-qualified jurists to choose from: Galveston Co. District Judge Susan Criss and 13th Court of Appeals Justice Linda Yañez. Criss is full of energy and ready to run a higher profile campaign than usual for the decidedly sedate civil court, and her enthusiasm is admirable. However, Yañez's experience as an appellate jurist makes her the candidate best qualified for the job of civil high-court justice. Gov. Ann Richards first appointed Yañez to the bench in 1993, making her the first Latina appointed to the court and the first woman to sit on a Texas appeals bench. She has served well, developing a reputation as a reasonable jurist. Yañez's experience earns our support.
