Texas Commission on Judicial Selection

The 86^th Texas Legislature created a commission to study the partisan election of judges in Texas. The specific charge to the commission:

The study must consider the fairness, effectiveness, and desirability of selecting a judicial officer through partisan elections; the fairness, effectiveness, and desirability of judicial selection methods proposed or adopted by other states; the relative merits of alternative methods for selecting a judicial officer.

The TCJS is required to submit a report on its findings and recommendations to the governor and the legislature no later than December 31, 2020.

The commission held its first meeting on January 9, 2020. During that meeting, the chair—David Beck—introduced the members and formed three subcommittees—Appointments and Confirmations Committee, Citizens Panels and Judicial Qualifications Committee, and Elections Committee. The fifteen members of the Commission, who were appointed by the Governor (4 members), Lieutenant Governor (4 members), the Speaker of the House (4 members), the Texas Supreme Court (1 member), Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (1 member), and the State Bar of Texas (1 member). Among the members are two Texas Supreme Court Chief Justices—Tom Phillips and Wallace Jefferson—four members of the Texas Senate, and four members of the Texas House of Representatives. The list of members is here.


The committee meetings are scheduled monthly from February through August 2020. The committee meetings are yet to be determined. The Commissions meeting schedule is here.


My interest in Texas judicial elections was sparked by the election of Steven Wayne Smith to the Texas Supreme Court in 2002. He defeated a Hispanic justice, Xavier Rodriguez, who had been appointed to fill a vacancy by Governor Rick Perry in 2001. Smith was elected in 2002 but was defeated in his first reelection bid in 2002. Smith was well-known in Texas Republican Party circles as the lawyer that won the Hopwood case that ended the affirmative action admissions program at the University of Texas.


For background on judicial selection in Texas, I highly recommend Mark Jones’ paper, which notes the importance of straight-ticket voting on judicial elections. I have also included the selection of judges in my Reports #11 and #14 on straight-ticket voting for the Center for Public Policy and Political Studies (CPPPS).


The Commission’s meetings and final report should be very interesting.

A New Year, A New Opportunity

With a New Year, there are always resolutions: commitments to do something differently or something new. This is my resolution: It's time for state and local politics in Texas to be elevated in terms of analysis. That is not to say that there are not credible and conscientious analyses of Texas politics now. They can be found, but scholarship on Texas politics is not readily.

So, if you're an academic or political activist who loves to investigate and analyze politics, then join my quest to elevate state and local politics in Texas. For me, an academic is anyone who studies politics as a science, seeks answers to interesting political questions, and loves to write and exchange ideas. I count my students among that group. I have read enough thoughtful and well-organized student papers to know that to be true.

You can email me at shaag78749@gmail.com with your idea of what issue you wish to address and a little about your background and sources of information about politics. I hope that you will join me in this New Year's Resolution to promote the systematic analysis of Texas state and local politics.