Texas Judicial Elections and court process

Texas Judicial Elections and court process. Texas is one of only two states that initially elects and then re-elects its judges in partisan elections where voters have the option of casting a straight-ticket vote. A consequence of this rare combination of partisan elections and straight-ticket voting is extremely limited variation in the share of the vote received by judicial candidates and a concomitant tendency for judicial election sweeps whereby one party wins all of the judicial races within a jurisdiction, be it at the statewide, appeals court district, or county level.

Texas Judicial Elections

At present, an overwhelming majority of Texas judges are elected based not on their legal qualifications and judicial philosophy, or even on their own campaign efforts, but rather on the performance of their party (in the straight-ticket vote) and of their party’s top-tier candidates (e.g., presidential, gubernatorial) within the jurisdiction where their race is being contested.

Insert a heading in the body (not in the header) of the first page consisting of four double-spaced lines. On line one type your first name and last name. On line two type “Professor Michael A. Kelley.” On line three type “Government 2306.” On line four type the month, day, and year you prepare your writing assignment. The first line of your heading should be one inch from the top of the first page and all four lines should be flush with the left margin, one inch from the left side of the page.
-Center the title of the assignment one space (double spacing) below the fourth line of your heading.
-One space (double spacing) below the title and flush with the left margin write verbatim the critical response questions posed for your response.
-One space (double spacing) below the restated assignment questions begin your first paragraph with the first line indented one-half inch from the left margin.
-Paragraphs will have one space (double spacing) between them and will begin with the first sentence indented one-half inch from the left margin.
-Double space all writing.
-Use 12-point, Times New Roman, black font for all writing.
-Insert page numbers on each page, including the first page and, if used, the Works Cited page. The page numbers will be cardinal numbers that are centered in the footer and will be 12-point Times New Roman font.