When it comes to openings on the Texas Supreme Court , the seat numbers don’t matter–but the competition does.
Here are the openings for the Texas Supreme Court justices:
Place 3
Debra Lehrmann: The incumbent Republican has been a judge for 28 years. Her platform is that she interprets the constitution and the law strictly and under a conservative ideology.
Lehrmann calls herself a “scholarly jurist and a strict textualist who believes in judicial restraint and who never legislates from the bench.”
Mike Westergren: The Democrat from Corpus Christi was a judge for the 214th District Court for 16 years.
Westergren wants to break up the GOP hold on the court: “I believe it is time for a person of my background and experience to make a contribution to the process of the Court.”
Kathie Glass: The Libertarian is eyeing the Court after an unsuccessful run for governor in 2014.
Rodolfo Rivera Muñoz: The Green Party candidate is a Coahuiltecan Indian. He was a Civil Rights lawyer for 36 years and his mission is to “bring Indigenous wisdom to Texas courts.”
Place 5
Paul Green: The incumbent Republican candidate for this seat considers himself to be a “constitutional conservative” and is a lifelong member of the NRA.
Dori Contreras: The Democrat is running in an attempt to unseat a Republican in a Supreme Court that has been ruled by the party for 20 years. She has been a judge for the 13th court of appeals for 14 years.
Tom Oxford: The Libertarian candidate has been a trial lawyer for 20 years.
“In the post 9/11 world we have seen the two major parties lose their way,” Oxford wrote in his biography. “Historically we could rely on the Democratic party to protect our individual rights and the Republican party to protect our economic rights. Now fear governs both parties, with our rights and our pocketbooks the victims.”
Charles E. Waterbury: The Green Party candidate is a lawyer from Dallas. The TCU graduate previously ran for the Texas Supreme court in 2012.
Place 9
Eva Guzman: The incumbent Republican was the first Latina to have a seat in the court.
Guzman said: “The Court should address how we can: 1. Expand Veteran’s courts so we may better serve our Veterans. 2. Improve outcomes for children in the child welfare system. 3. Improve access to the civil courts by low-income Texans.”
Savannah Robinson: The Democrat has never held an elected position before.
“This is my first attempt at running for office,” Robinson told the Fort Worth Star- Telegram. “I am not slick, don’t thump a bible, and don’t have a political organization behind me. Like my opponent, I am a Latina.”
Don Fulton: The Libertarian has been a lawyer since 1976 and is a proponent of small government and less control over legislation by the court.
Jim Chisholm: The Green Party candidate has run for the Texas Supreme Court twice before. There is very little information about the candidate online.
There are plenty of options for the Supreme Court this year; be sure to get out there and make your vote count.