This article has been updated.
In a county where Democrats already control virtually every judicial seat, a pair of Democratic primaries grew contentious in the final stretch this year.
Among the state district court seats, the retirement of Democrat David Canales from the 73rd Civil District Court before the end of his term drew three candidates who fought over their party’s only open bench.
On the 4th Court of Appeals, which hears cases from a 32-county South Texas and Hill Country region, incumbent Democrat Beth Watkins spent big trying to fend off a primary challenger who could have run unopposed for the party’s nomination to take on the court’s lone Republican, Lori Valenzuela.
Leading up to the March 5 primary, Elizabeth Martinez, a candidate for the 73rd Civil District Court, had attacked Ana Laura Ramirez for filing paperwork suggesting she had gathered signatures from voters on days Ramirez’s social media posts indicated she was actually on a cruise, according to a KSAT report.
The Bexar County Democratic Party said Martinez filed her complaint too late to remove Ramirez from the ballot, and neither Martinez nor the party decided to pursue a legal remedy.
Martinez took 42.7% of the vote in Tuesday’s primary, Ramirez took 35.5% and Dannick Villaseñor-Hernandez took 21.8%, so Martinez and Ramirez will face off in a May 28 runoff.
Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Republican Marialyn Barnard to the seat after Canales stepped down. But because no Republican filed to run in the 73rd this year, nor any of the other district court judgeships, the primary runoff will determine the winner in November.
In the 4th Court of Appeals Place 2 race, Velia Meza took 52.3% of the vote Tuesday, unseating Watkins.
Meza, a judge in the 226th Criminal District Court, could have run for the Place 7 seat held by Valenzuela, a Republican who won by fewer than 10,000 votes in a November 2022 special election.
Watkins spent north of $200,000 in the race against Meza, with ads framing her record as soft on violent criminals.
At a campaign event hosted by the Communications Workers of America Saturday Watkins touted her record, noting that she has a reversal rate of 0.6% and has never been reversed on a criminal case.
“I work hard and I’m good at my job,” Watkins said. “And according to my bosses in Austin, I get the law right.”
Republicans are challenging three other Democratic incumbents on the 4th Court of Appeals.
Todd McCray won the Republican primary to take on incumbent Democrat Cynthia Marie Chapa in Place 3. McCray ran in Place 8 in 2022, losing to Democrat Irene Alarcon Rios by roughly 10,000 votes.
Meanwhile, Justice Luz Elena Chapa faces a challenge from Republican Lori Massey Brissette in Place 4, and Justice Liza Rodriguez will go up against Republican Adrian Spears in Place 5.
Republicans play defense
Just as Bexar County Democratic judges turned their fire on each other, a similar scenario played out among Republicans in the primary races for the Court of Criminal Appeals.
On Texas’ all-GOP, nine-member court, three judges seeking reelection faced primary challenges from candidates backed by embattled Attorney General Ken Paxton, who sought revenge after they struck down his ability to unilaterally prosecute voter fraud.
On Tuesday, all three incumbents lost. David Schenck defeated presiding judge Sharon Keller, Gina Parker defeated Barbara Parker Hervey (Place 7), and Lee Finley defeated Michelle Slaughter (Place 8).
This article has been updated to correct that Velia Meza, not Beth Watkins, was the winner of the Democratic primary for Place 2 on the 4th Court of Appeals.
