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Lowering the Bar: Lawyers Keep Texas Appeals Judges on Retainer
 

III. Appeals Court Contributions At A Glance

A. Contributions By Election Cycle
This study analyzes 87 winning campaigns by justices who still sat on the appellate bench in January 2003. Due to attrition by justices who did not seek reelection or whom voters rejected, just 11 justices elected in 1996 and 11 more elected in 1998 still sat on the court in January 2003.4 Predictably, more of the justices who prevailed in more recent elections still sat on the court in January 2003, although the 2000 election produced more surviving justices than 2002 due to an unusually large number of appeals judge races that year (48 races).
 
 
Contributions By Election Cycle
Election Cycle
Appeals 
Judges 
Elected
No. of Elections 
Won By Justices 
Still Serving 
in '03*
Total Amount 
Raised by 
Justices Still 
 Serving in '03* 
Average 
 War Chest 
Share of 
All Money
1996
26
11
$494,390
$44,945 
7%
1998
21
11
$1,259,211
$114,474 
18%
2000
48
41
$3,394,998
$82,805 
50%
2002
26
24
$1,675,859
$69,827 
25%
TOTALS
121
*87
$6,824,458
$78,442 
100%
* 73 individual justices serving in January 2003 won these 87 elections, with 14 judges winning two elections apiece since 1996.

 

B. Contributions By District
Each of Texas’ 14 district appeals courts have from three to 13 justices apiece. With elections occurring every two years and justices serving six-year, staggered terms, it ordinarily would take six years to replace all the justices in a given appeals district. The table below shows considerable court reshuffling over the four elections dating back to 1996. Since then, still-sitting justices on just five district appeals courts won more elections than their districts have seats (Districts 2, 4, 5, 8 and 10). The other nine districts experienced greater attrition, as justices did not attempt to retain their seats or were knocked out by challengers.
 

Contributions By District (1996-2002)
District
No. of 
Court Seats
No. of Elections 
Won By Justices 
Still Serving 
in '03*
Total Amount 
Those Justices
Raised
Average 
War Chest
Share of 
All Money
1-Houston
9
9
$679,126
$75,458
10%
2-Fort Worth
7
9
$567,346
$63,038
8%
3-Austin
6
6
$558,066
$93,011
8%
4-San Antonio
7
9
$1,401,479
$155,720
21%
5-Dallas
13
15
$652,283
$43,485
10%
6-Texarkana
3
3
$269,961
$89,987
4%
7-Amarillo
4
2
$90,901
$45,451
1%
8-El Paso
4
5
$95,158
$19,032
1%
9-Beaumont
3
3
$452,104
$150,701
7%
10-Waco
3
5
$279,152
$55,830
4%
11-Eastland
3
3
$95,581
$31,860
1%
12-Tyler
3
3
$158,857
$52,952
2%
13-Corpus
6
6
$874,059
$145,676
13%
14-Houston
9
9
$650,386
$72,265
10%
 
TOTAL:
*87
$6,824,458
$78,442
100%
* 73 individual justices serving in January 2003 won these 87 elections, with 14 judges winning two elections apiece since 1996.

This table also shows that just three districts had an average winning war chest exceeding $100,000. The only district where sitting justices raised a total of more than $1 million was San Antonio’s Fourth District, a partisan battleground that accounted for 21 percent of all the money raised by the sitting justices statewide. The two courts with the next-largest average war chests were all-Democratic after the 1996 election. While the GOP has yet to penetrate Corpus Christi’s Thirteenth District, Republicans now hold two of three seats on Beaumont’s Ninth District.
 

C. Contributions By Party
As the momentum among Texas voters swung in favor of Republicans, Democrats had to pay huge premiums to win in many of the state’s 14 appeals districts. Republican candidates raised just over $4 million to win 63 of the 87 successful appeals court races studied in this report. Democrats raised almost $2.8 million to win the remaining 24 campaigns. The average winning Democrat raised $114,739—or a remarkable 78 percent more than the $64,614 raised by the average GOP winner. As this fundraising premium squeezed Democrats, Republican justices poured into many once-Democratic appeals districts and the number of appeals court seats occupied by Democrats plummeted from 36 in 1997 to just 18 in January 2003.
 
 

Contributions By Party (1996-2002)
Party
No. of Elections 
Won By Justices 
Still Serving in '03 
Total Amount 
Those Justices
Raised
Average 
 War Chest 
Share of 
 All Money 
Democratic
24
$2,753,728
$114,739
40%
Republican
63
$4,070,729
$64,614
60%
TOTALS:
87
$6,824,458
$78,442 
100%
 

 

D. Candidates With More Money Usually Win
While the rest of this report focuses on the war chests of 87 winning appeals court campaigns, it is important to note that the best-funded judicial candidate usually wins. Because some judges lacked opponents in their primaries, general elections or both, the justices studied here faced a total of just 21 contested primaries and 30 contested general elections. In these contested races, money predicted the winner 76 percent of the time, with the best-funded candidate prevailing in 39 of 51 contested appeals court elections. Meanwhile, most uncontested candidates raised money, which often served to preempt would-be competitors.

Money clearly played an important role in shaping Texas appeals court elections. Yet it was not the only factor. The table below shows that several justices with overwhelming fundraising advantages narrowly prevailed over poorly funded primary or general election opponents. Indeed, the following table reveals that several candidates with huge fundraising advantages even suffered narrow defeats. The best-funded candidate lost in 12 of the 51 contested appeals court elections (24 percent), including eight general elections that involved partisan showdowns. In these eight partisan showdowns it invariably was a lesser-funded Republican who defeated a better-funded Democrat. Put another way, Republicans occasionally defeated better-funded Democrats, but every sitting Democratic appeals justice who had to defeat a Republican opponent did so with a fundraising advantage.
 

Justices With the Greatest Fundraising Advantage
Winning Judge
(Party)
Election
Winner's 
Funding 
Superiority
  Winner's 
  War Chest 
Winner's 
Share of 
Vote
Main Opponent
James T. Worthen (R) 1998-P
75X
$114,846 
52%
Charles Holcomb (R)
Kem Thompson Frost (R) 2002-G
50X
$121,019 
54%
Denise Crawford (D)
Scott Brister (R) 2000-G
28X
$148,068 
53%
Mary C. Thompson (D)
Frederico Hinojosa Jr. (D) 2000-P
15X
$222,458 
54%
Ruben R. Pena (D)
Donnie R. Burgess (D) 1998-G
8X
$227,984 
55%
Ralph Harrison (R)
Catherine M. Stone (D) 2000-G
5X
$180,589 
55%
Jay Brandon (R)
Jan P. Patterson (D) 1998-G
3X
$190,694 
51%
David Puryear (R)
Alma L. Lopez (D) 2002-G
2X
$338,670 
52%
Paul W. Green (R)
Alma L. Lopez (D) 2000-G
2X
$343,889 
52%
Rebecca Simmons (R)
Dori Contreras Garza (D) 2002-P
2X
$266,072 
57%
Augustin Rivera Jr. (D)
  TOTALS:
3X
$2,154,289
   
Note: These contributions data exclude campaign loans that, in several cases, allowed candidates to spend much more money than they raised.
P = Primary; G = General Election.

In many parts of the state the Republican Party label is another important predictor of judicial candidate success. Indeed, media accounts of several big financial upsets (including those of GOP Justices Terry Jennings, David Puryear and Karen Angelini) suggested that George W. Bush’s coattails helped Republicans carry down-ballot judicial races. These data also suggest that Democratic candidates are not viable in many parts of the state without decisive fundraising superiority.
 

Just 12 Better-Funded Candidates Lost
Loser (Party) Election
Loser's 
Funding 
Superiority
  Loser's 
  War Chest 
Winner's 
Share of 
Vote
Winning Opponent
Frank Enriquez (D) 2000-P
*Infinite
$141,350 
52%
Errlinda Castillo (D)
Lee Yeakel (R) 2002-P
50X
$117,255 
56%
Wallace Ken Law (R)
Eric Andell (D) 2000-G
20X
$707,456 
51%
Terry Jennings (R)
Ronald L. Walker (D) 2002-G
9X
$159,213 
54%
Steve McKeithen (R)
Woodie Jones (D) 2000-G
4X
$355,311 
52%
David Puryear (R)
Jim Branton (D) 1998-G
3X
$404,567 
54%
Karen Angelini (R)
Katherine O'Herren (D) 1998-G
3X
$162,138 
51%
Thomas W. Gray (R)
Roby Hadden (R) 2000-P
2X
$48,903 
61%
Sam Griffith (R)
Ken Cannata (R) 2000-P
1.3X
$26,212 
48%
Terry Jennings (R)
Gerald Bourque (D) 2000-G
1.2X
$230,917 
54%
David B. Gaultney (R)
Jim Lovett (D) 2002-G
1.1X
$116,030 
56%
Josh R. Morriss (R)
George Ellis (D) 1996-G
1.1X
$81,355 
55%
Samuel M. Nuchia (R)
  TOTAL: 
3X
$2,550,707 
   
Note: These contributions data exclude campaign loans that, in several cases, allowed candidates to spend much more money than they raised.
P = Primary; G = General Election.
* Winner Errlinda Castillo raised no money.

E. Competition Drives Contributions
Not surprisingly, the most aggressive fundraising tends to occur in the closest races, where outcomes can potentially turn on relatively few dollars and votes. The winners of half of the 87 elections studied in this report faced absolutely no major-party opposition in either the primary or general election. To discourage opposition, the winners of these 44 races raised an average war chest of $42,163. The winners of 34 other elections raised an average of $113,671 to defeat a major-party opponent in either their primary or their general election. Finally, the winners of nine elections raised an average of $122,475 to defeat major-party opponents in both their primary and general elections.5
 

Contributions By Amount of Opposition
Major-Party Opposition?
No. of Elections 
Won By Justices 
Still Serving in '03 
Total Amount
Those Justices 
Raised
 Average 
 War Chest
Share of 
 All Money 
No Primary or Gen'l Opponent
44
$1,857,358
$42,213
27%
One Primary or Gen'l Opponent
34
$3,864,824
$113,671
57%
Opponents in Both Races
9
$1,102,276
$122,475
16%
TOTALS:
*87
$6,824,458
$78,442
100%

Fundraising is fueled by the degree as well as the quantity of opposition faced. The winners of 60 of the 87 races studied here won both their primary and general election by 56 percent of the vote or more. These winners with light-weight competition raised an average of $52,289 each. The winners of another 25 races faced serious competition in either their primary or general election, winning it with no more than 55 percent of the vote. These justices who prevailed over tough competition raised an average of $144,107 each.
 

Contributions By Competitiveness of Race
No. of 
Competitive 
Races
No. of Elections 
Won By Justices 
Still Serving in '03 
Total Amount 
Those Justices
Raised
 Average 
 War Chest 
Share of 
 All Money 
0
60
$3,139,511 
$52,325 
46%
1
25
$3,602,665 
$144,107 
53%
2
2
$82,283 
$41,141 
1%
TOTALS:
*87
$6,824,458 
$78,442 
100%
"Competitive races" were won with less than 56 percent of the vote.

Finally, two Republican justices prevailed over tough competition in both their primary and general election. Departing from the trend, however, these two justices amassed relatively small war chests that seemingly befit candidates who faced little to no competition. In Beaumont’s Ninth District, Steve McKeithen won a 2002 primary and then defeated Democratic Chief Justice Ronald Walker (who raised $159,213)—all with a total war chest of $26,069. With just $56,213, Justice Terry Jennings in Houston’s First District survived a 2000 primary and primary runoff, before defeating well-funded Democratic incumbent Justice Eric Andell (who raised $707,456).

It is extraordinary for such poorly funded challengers to defeat incumbents. The table below shows that incumbents accounted for 58 of the 87 winning campaigns studied in this report and these incumbents raised an average war chest of $62,942. Although incumbents typically have greater fundraising advantages because they already wield power and usually are favored to win, many of them have little need for large war chests since they draw relatively few serious challenges.
 

Contributions and Incumbency
Incumbency 
Status
No. of Elections 
Won By Justices 
 Still Serving in '03* 
Total Amount 
Those Justices
Raised
  Average 
  War Chest
  Share of 
  All Money
Incumbent
58
$3,650,635
$62,942 
53%
Challenger
7
$538,046
$76,864 
8%
Open Seat
22
$2,635,777
$119,808 
39%
TOTALS:
*87
$6,824,458
$78,442 
100%
* 73 individual justices serving in January 2003 won these 87 elections, with 14 judges winning two elections apiece since 1996.

In contrast, just seven challengers prevailed over incumbent advantage, with an average war chest of $76,864 (this average was sandbagged by the extraordinary victories of modestly funded challengers McKeithen, Jennings and the Tyler’s Sam Griffith, who raised just $26,324).6  Three of the four other successful challengers raised more than $100,000 each, though just two challengers raised more money than the incumbent whom they defeated.7  Significantly, all seven challengers were Republicans (although four of them defeated GOP incumbents in the primary).  Four of these successful challengers ran down ballot from George W. Bushs presidential coattails in 2000, including two who defeated Democratic incumbents (Jennings and David Puryear in Austins Third District).

Finally, candidates seeking open seats with no incumbents generally raised the biggest war chests. Winners of open seats accounted for 22 elections, raising an average war chest of $119,808.
 

F. Biggest War Chests
Twenty-one of the 87 appeals court campaigns studied in this report brandished war chests exceeding $100,000. Collectively, these war chests contained $3.9 million, or 57 percent of all the money analyzed in this study. For some reason, women—particularly Democratic women—raised the biggest war chests.

The best-funded judge single-handedly inflated the average war chest on San Antonio’s Fourth District. Chief Justice Alma Lopez is the only sitting justice to raise more than $300,000, which she did two elections in a row. While Justice Lopez raised twice the money of her respective Republican opponents, she narrowly prevailed in both elections with 52 percent of the vote.

The justices with the next-largest war chests, Austin-based Jan Patterson and Corpus-based Dori Contreras Garza, also are Democrats. In fact, Democrats accounted for eight of the 10 largest war chests. While Justice Lopez lacked primary opponents, Justices Patterson and Contreras Garza were two of just nine justices in this study who had to defeat major-party opponents in both their primary and their general elections.
 

Biggest War Chests
Justice (Party) Election 
Cycle
Dist. Running
Status
 Primary 
 Election 
 Vote (%) 
 General 
 Election 
 Vote (%) 
 Money Raised
Alma L. Lopez (D) 2000
4
Incumbent
100%
52%
$343,889
Alma L. Lopez (D) 2002
4
Open
100%
52%
$338,670
Jan P. Patterson (D) 1998
3
Open
74%
51%
$296,684
Dori Contreras Garza (D) 2002
13
Open
57%
58%
$266,072
Scott Brister (R) 2000
1
Open
64%
53%
$243,708
Rogelio 'Roy' Valdez (D) 2000
13
Open
56%
100%
$233,644
Donnie 'Don' Burgess (D) 1998
9
Incumbent
100%
55%
$227,984
Frederico Hinojosa Jr. (D) 2000
13
Incumbent
54%
100%
$222,458
David B. Gaultney (R) 2000
9
Open
100%
54%
$198,050
Catherine M. Stone (D) 2000
4
Incumbent
100%
55%
$180,589
Anne L. Gardner (R) 2000
2
Open
55%
100%
$158,535
Karen A. Angelini (R) 1998
4
Incumbent
100%
54%
$157,255
Lee Ann Dauphinot (R) 2000
2
Incumbent
55%
100%
$133,745
Sue Walker (R) 2000
2
Challenger
59%
100%
$123,066
Laura C. Higley (R) 2002
1
Open
100%
100%
$121,245
Kem Thompson Frost (R) 2002
14
Incumbent
100%
54%
$121,019
James T. Worthen (R)  1998
12
Challenger
53%
100%
$114,846
Jack E. Carter (D) 2002
6
Open
63%
100%
$107,184
Charles W. Seymore (R) 2000
14
Challenger
32%
100%
$104,060
Josh R. Morriss (R) 2002
6
Incumbent
100%
55%
$101,491
Martin E. Richter (R) 2000
5
Open
100%
100%
$100,150
         
TOTAL:
$3,894,344
* I = Incumbent; C = Challenger; O = Open Seat
Justice Seymore got 73 percent of the vote in his primary runoff.

 



4  The number of still-serving justices elected in 1996 was actually 10.  In a method error discovered at press time, this study erroneously includes the 1996 campaign of former Fourth District Chief Justice Phil Hardberger (D), who was not a sitting justice in January 2003. New Chief Justice Alma Lopez (who is properly included in this study) replaced Justice Hardberger when he did not seek reelection in 2002. This error—based on the 2003 edition of the Texas State Directory—has a negligible effect on trends reported in this study.
 5 These two-opponent victors were: Justices Terry Jennings and Scott Brister (District 1); Terrie Livingston (2); Jan Patterson (3); Steve McKeithen (9); Thomas Gray (10); Terry McCall (11); and Dori Contreras Garza and Errlinda Castillo (13).
 6 The other successful challengers were District 2’s Sue Walker, District 3’s David Puryear, District 12’s James Worthen and District 14’s Charles Seymore.
7  District 2’s Sue Walker and District 12’s James Worthen.


Copyright © 2003 Texans for Public Justice