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For the first time, no Republican candidates are challenging incumbent judges in Bexar County’s district courts in the November general election, marking a shift in the county’s judicial races.
A sample ballot reveals a lineup of uncontested Democratic candidates, a phenomenon UTSA Political Science Chair Jon Taylor calls a familiar blue wave of judicial seats that has also happened in other bigger Texas counties.
According to Taylor, this trend has gained momentum over the last six years in Bexar County.
“This goes back to 2018, when the Republican wipeout in Bexar County began,” Taylor said. “It culminated in 2022 when essentially whatever Republican presence remained in the judiciary was lost, apart from vacancies filled by Governor Greg Abbott.”
In the 2018 election, six incumbent Republican district court judges lost their seats in Bexar County.
By 2022, four district court positions and two county judge seats turned blue.
Taylor notes that while this “blue wave” reflects the political landscape in Bexar County, it doesn’t necessarily represent the state as a whole.
“In other parts of Texas, state district courts, state courts of appeals, and the Court of Criminal Appeals remain predominantly red,” Taylor said. “It’s a strange situation we’re in — Bexar County is a heavily blue area within a traditionally red state, at least when it comes to the state judiciary.”
Currently, Bexar County’s Fourth Court of Appeals, which also serves 31 other counties, has three contested races.
While these appellate seats could alter the balance in the Fourth Court of Appeals, Taylor believes that the blue wave in district and county courts is here to stay.
“I don’t see this trend changing anytime soon,” he said. “It would be a minor miracle for Republicans to show a strong sense of competition in Bexar County’s judiciary right now.”