Democratic challengers collectively raised a total of $722,167 by the end of June 2008 to unseat the three Republican justices who raised almost $1.6 million in the same period. The Democrats took 69 percent of their money from lawyers and litigants who had recent business before the Supreme Court, surpassing the incumbents (who got 65 percent of their funds from courtroom contributors). The challengers’ reliance on courtroom contributions ranged from a low of 64 percent for Chief Justice candidate Jim Jordan to a high of 74 percent for Sam Houston. A comparison of the top courtroom contributors to the Republican incumbents versus their Democratic challengers reveals that corporate defense firms favor the incumbents while plaintiff firms favor the challengers.

 

Three Challengers Took 69 Percent
of Their Campaign Funds From Courtroom Contributors
 Challenger  
Seeking Election
 In Nov. 2008
Total
Raised
Jan. ‘07 To July ’08
Total
Courtroom
Contributions
Courtroom Funds
As Share
of Total
Incumbent
He/She Is
Challenging
 Linda Yañez (D)
$306,571
$207,421
68%
 Johnson
 Sam Houston (D) 
$254,116
$187,902
74%
 Wainwright
  Jim Jordan* (D)
$161,480
$103,134
64%
 Jefferson
TOTALS:
$722,167
$498,457
69%
 
              *Chief Justice candidate.

 

Exacerbating the challengers’ uphill financial fight is the fact that the three incumbent justices ran unopposed in the Republican Primary while two of the Democratic challengers had to spend money to defeat serious primary opposition. Recalling the Battle of San Jacinto, Sam Houston took his licks in the Democratic Primary but prevailed with 56 percent of the vote. Linda Yañez won her primary squeaker with just 51 percent.

Supreme Court Candidates’ Cash On Hand
Court
Seat
 Candidate
March 2008
Primary
Vote
Campaign
Cash On Hand
June 30, 2008
Chief
 Wallace Jefferson
100%
$742,011
 Jim Jordan
100%
$96,713
7
 Dale Wainwright
100%
$260,067
 Sam Houston
56%
$39,427
8
 Phil Johnson
100%
$605,582
 Linda Yañez
51%
$111,089

 

 

 

Then-Governor Ann Richards appointed Linda Yañez to the 13th Court of Appeals in Corpus Christi in 1993. Justice Yañez previously served as a clinical instructor at Harvard Law School and as a regional counsel to the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund. An earlier Texans For Public Justice study found that lawyers and law firms accounted for 95 percent of the money that Justice Yañez raised for her 13th Court of Appeals reelection campaign in 1998.13

 

Linda Yañez’s
Top Courtroom Contributors
Total
Amount
  Courtroom Contributor  Interest
$25,000
  Feazell Rosenthal & Watson  Law Firm 
$20,000
  Barker Leon Fancher & Matthys  Law Firm 
$10,000
  Frank L. Branson PC  Law Firm
$7,500
  Atlas & Hall Law Firm  Law Firm 
$6,000
  Roerig Oliveira & Fisher LLP  Law Firm 
$5,500
  Jones Galligan Key & Lozano LLP  Law Firm 
$5,500
  Law Office of Douglas Allison  Law Firm 
$5,000
  Dehay & Elliston LLP  Law Firm 
$5,000
  International Bank of Commerce  Bank
$5,000
  Jamail & Kolius  Law Firm 
$5,000
  Kittleman Thomas Ramirez…  Law Firm 
$5,000
  L&F Distributors  Alcohol/Gambling
$5,000
  Mithoff & Jacks LLP  Law Firm 
$5,000
  Provost & Umphrey Law Firm  Law Firm 
$5,000
  Sutton & Jacobs LLP  Law Firm 
$4,500
  Rhodes & Vela LLP  Law Firm 
$4,175
  Fleming & Associates LLP  Law Firm 
$4,000
  Fibich Hampton Leebron & Garth  Law Firm 
$4,000
  Hockema Tippit & Escobedo LLP  Law Firm 
$3,750
  Law Office of Susan Hays PC  Law Firm 
$3,000
  Sico White & Braugh LLP  Law Firm 

 

 

 

Like his opponent, Justice Dale Wainwright, Sam Houston previously worked for Andrews & Kurth in the city named after Houston’s presumptive namesake. Houston and other members of that firm left in 1992 to start Cruse Scott Henderson & Allen, which represents both plaintiffs and defendants in civil lawsuits. This firm, which has had nine matters before the Supreme Court since 2005, is Sam Houston’s top courtroom contributor. One of Houston’s partners, Stephen R. Bailey, also gave Wainwright $500 several months before Houston established his campaign committee in October 2007. Andrews & Kurth’s political committee exclusively supported the incumbent justices this round, though two of its attorneys gave Houston a total of $750.

 

Sam Houston's
Top Courtroom Contributors
Total
Amount
  Courtroom Contributor  Interest
$37,500
  Cruse Scott Henderson & Allen LLP  Law Firm 
$30,000
  Fibich Hampton Leebron & Garth LLP  Law Firm 
$15,000
  Jamail & Kolius  Law Firm
$15,000
  O'Quinn Laminack & Pirtle  Law Firm 
$7,500
  Ware Snow Fogel & Jackson LLP  Law Firm 
$5,000
  Beck Redden & Sechrest LLP  Law Firm 
$5,000
  Berg & Androphy  Law Firm 
$5,000
  Frank L. Branson PC  Law Firm 
$5,000
  Jones & Granger  Law Firm 
$5,000
  Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates  Law Firm 
$5,000
  Mithoff & Jacks LLP  Law Firm 
$5,000
  Tracey Law Firm  Law Firm 
$3,000
  Ammons Law Firm LLP  Law Firm 
$2,500
  Fisher Boyd Brown Boudreaux…  Law Firm 
$2,500
  John W. Stevenson Jr. & Associates  Law Firm 
$2,500
  Matthews & Associates  Law Firm 
$2,000
  Freeman Law Firm  Law Firm 
$2,000
  Jackson Walker LLP  Law Firm 
$2,000
  Matthiesen & Associates  Law Firm 
$1,752
  Griffith Nixon Davison PC  Law Firm 


 

Then-Governor Mark White appointed Jim Jordan to a Dallas County state district court vacancy in 1986 but Jordan lost that post to a Republican challenger in his first election. Jordan then practiced law with Riddle & Brown and joined Shannon Gracey Ratliff & Miller in 2000. That firm, which has had 35 matters before the Supreme Court since 2005, gave $1,200 to Jordan and a total of $1,500 to Justices Wainwright and Johnson. Dallas voters elected Jordan to his current post as judge of the 160th District Court in 2006.


Jim Jordan’s
Top Courtroom Contributors
Total
Amount
  Courtroom Contributor  Interest
$10,000
  Williams Bailey Law Firm LLP  Law Firm 
$6,916
  Baron & Budd PC  Law Firm 
$5,968
  Michael E. Schmidt PC  Law Firm
$5,000
  Frank L. Branson PC  Law Firm 
$5,000
  Friedman & Feiger LLP  Law Firm 
$5,000
  Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates  Law Firm 
$5,000
  Law Office of Stephen F. Malouf  Law Firm 
$5,000
  Mithoff & Jacks LLP  Law Firm 
$3,500
  Waters & Kraus LLP  Law Firm 
$3,000
  Redwine Law Offices  Law Firm 
$2,500
  McKool & Smith LLP  Law Firm 
$2,500
  Provost & Umphrey Law Firm  Law Firm 
$2,500
  Strasburger & Price  Law Firm 
$2,000
  Eberstein & Witherite LLP  Law Firm 
$2,000
  Stanley Mandel & Iola LLP  Law Firm 
$2,000
  Vinson & Elkins LLP  Law Firm 
$1,500
  Freeman Law Firm  Law Firm 
$1,500
  Sayles Lidji & Werbner  Law Firm 
$1,450
  Fulbright & Jaworski LLP  Law Firm 
$1,300
  Stradley & Wright  Law Firm 
$1,200
  Shannon Gracey Ratliff & Miller  Law Firm 

 

 


13 “Lowering the Bar: Lawyers Keep Texas Appeals Judges on Retainer,” Texans For Public Justice, May 2003. http://www.tpj.org/docs/2002/05/reports/apcourt/