Election Coverage: Judicial Races: Dem Sweep Appealing

Travis County Judge Gisela Triana in 2015 (Photo by Jana Birchum)

Judicial races in Travis County all went as planned – mostly uncontested, and all to Dems – and Republicans rolled as expected at both the state Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals, but there's movement afoot in the 14 appellate courts, where 31 of 32 contested races went to Dems, and 17 GOP incumbents lost. That includes a clean sweep of the 3rd Court, which oversees cases in Travis County. GOP judges Cindy Olson Bourland, Scott Field, David Puryear, and Mike Toth (if you can call him a judge) all lost by at least five points, to Edward Smith, Chari Kelly, Thomas J. Baker, and Gisela D. Triana, respectively. How drastic a change is that? In 2016 there were two 3rd Court of Appeals seats on the ballot; Republicans took both uncontested.