Democrats On The
Texas Appellate Bench
Texas has two high courts, a statewide business court of appeals, and fourteen regional Courts of Appeals. 15 of the Democrats on that bench in 2026 are on a Fort Bend ballot. Another 7 are running in appellate districts elsewhere in Texas. Here is the whole map.
On your ballot
The 15 you can actually vote for
Fort Bend sits in the First and Fourteenth Courts of Appeals district, and every Texan votes on the high courts. These are the appellate Democrats who appear on a Fort Bend County ballot — each with a full profile.
Courts of Appeals
Supreme Court of Texas
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
Fifteenth Court of Appeals
Elsewhere in Texas
The rest of the appellate map
Democrats running for a Texas Court of Appeals seat in a district that does not include Fort Bend County. You cannot vote in these races — they are here so you can see the whole board, and so you know where the Texas appellate bench is genuinely in play.
Read this first — these are not part of our slate
The judges below are listed for voter information only. They are not participants in this joint activity, no advertising here is paid for on their behalf, and nothing on this page is an endorsement by them or of them. For their own campaign material, go to their campaigns directly. Details verified against Ballotpedia and county election authorities as of 2026-08-21.
Third Court of Appeals — Austin
Hears appeals from Travis and 23 other Central Texas counties.
Fourth Court of Appeals — San Antonio
Hears appeals from Bexar and 31 other South-Central Texas counties.
Fifth Court of Appeals — Dallas
The largest intermediate appellate court in Texas, covering Dallas and five neighbouring counties.
Eighth Court of Appeals — El Paso
Covers El Paso and much of far West Texas.
Thirteenth Court of Appeals — Corpus Christi – Edinburg
Covers the Coastal Bend and the Rio Grande Valley.
Why this matters
Appeals outlive elections
A trial judge decides your case. An appellate justice decides what the law means — and that ruling then binds every trial court underneath them, for everyone, for years. Courts of Appeals justices serve six-year terms, half again as long as a district judge.
That is why these races are worth understanding even in the districts you cannot vote in: the Texas appellate bench is where the rules that reach Fort Bend courtrooms actually get written.