I AM A RETIRED TRIAL ATTORNEY whose undergraduate work was in government and history. I have researched candidates in some contested Republican races by looking primarily at the websites of candidates and Wikipedia. As in the past, I am sharing my reasons for supporting selected candidates should the reader care to consider them.

Early voting begins February 20 through March 1, 2024. March 5 is the final day for our County Clerk to receive a ballot by mail if it is postmarked on or before that date. Primary day is Tuesday, March 5.

Railroad Commissioner

Incumbent Christi Craddick, an attorney, has served since 2012. Her father, Tom Craddick of Midland, continues his long service as a Texas State Representative after he served as Speaker of the House. They own significant oil and gas interests in Texas, and Christi has supported industry priorities. I will vote to re-elect Craddick, partly because I also invest in oil and gas wells.

Opponent James Matlock is an ex-Marine who then worked 18 years in the financial services industry. He is not an attorney, which he thinks to be good for the Commission. He wants to reduce natural gas well flaring.

Petra Reyes specializes in electrical infrastructure for energy producers in Spicewood Texas.

I could not find a website for candidates Christie Clark or for Corey Powell of Longview.

Supreme Court, Place 4

Incumbent Justice John Devine has served on the Texas Supreme Court since 2013 after eight years as a District Judge. He was an active in opposing abortions in the 1980s. He and his wife have six children.

Opponent Brian Walker is a Justice of the Fort Worth Court of Appeals after having been a prosecutor and then practicing law in Ft. Worth for 17 years.

In a poll open to all Texas attorneys as to these two candidates, Devine had 1,808 votes with 936 for Walker.

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Presiding Judge

Sharon Keller has served this role since 2001 (she is the longest severing Presiding Judge), after having being elected as a Justice in 1994. She is a Rice University graduate, is extremely religious and tries to follow the law. However, she was once fined $100,000 by the Texas Ethics Commission for failing to disclose more than $2 million in assets in her required filing. That oversight did not prevent her from receiving the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award by the judicial Section of the State Bar of Texas.

Her opponent, David Schenk, is an appellate attorney after having served as a Texas Court of Appeals Justice. He is probably supported by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton who, in January of 2024, filed a court document stating that he no longer contested the facts of a civil lawsuit against him by several former key assistants who claimed that he had violated the Texas Whistleblowers Act. Paxton fired those assistants for reporting to the FBI Paxton’s improper use of his office to benefit a political donor who, in turn, facilitated a Paxton extra-marital affair. Paxton’s earlier $3.3 million dollar settlement agreement with the assistants fell through when the Texas House refused to use taxpayer money to fund the payment. The House proceeded to indict Paxton, but the Texas Senate (of whom Paxton’s wife is a member) failed to convict him.

Paxton is seeking to defeat incumbent Justices of the Court of Criminal Appeals for deciding eight-to-one against Paxton’s desire to sue for voter fraud instead of local prosecutors. I will vote against Paxton’s wishes by supporting all three incumbent Justices in this Primary.

A poll available to all Texas attorneys resulted in 2,195 votes for Keller and 1,538 for Schenk.

Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 7

Barbara Parke Hervey is the incumbent since 2000. In 2008, she created an Integrity Unit to educate those in the criminal justice system about problems with evidence in criminal prosecutions. She previously had been an assistant district attorney in San Antonio.

Opponent Gina Parker of Waco has practiced law there and has a dental-related business. I will vote for Hervey.

The poll of Texas attorneys had 1,996 votes for Hervey and 851 for Parker.

Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 8

Incumbent Michelle Slaughter has served since 2018 after being a District Judge in Galveston starting in 2013. Her opponent is Lee Finley. I will vote for Slaughter. The poll of Texas attorneys resulted in 1,908 votes for Slaughter and 796 for Finley.

State Representative, District 87

We are fortunate that Perryton oil and gas business owner Richard Beyea has offered himself as a candidate. He has served for years as a trustee on the Perryton School Board. Richard is intelligent and will properly represent our northeast Texas Panhandle. He is currently chairman of the board of directors of the Texas Panhandle Producers and Royalty Association. He has represented the oil and gas industry many times before the Texas legislature and regulatory agencies. Ochiltree County’s last state representative was Bob Close in the 1970s.

Richard Beyea has three opponents, one of whom is Caroline Fairly of Amarillo. She is supported by Attorney General Ken Paxton among other elected officials. Chris Samples did an excellent job in interviewing Beyea, Fairly and fellow candidate Cindi Bulla for over an hour, and that interview is available at www.highplainsobserver.com under the title of Texas House District 87 Forum. A direct link is at https://soundcloud.com/user-769999349/texas-house-district-87-state-rep-candidate-forum. The Observer site also has an advertisement by the fourth candidate, Amarillo attorney Jesse Quackenbush.

State Representative, District 88

Ken King of Canadian has long served our area very well and properly voted to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton. He also opposed our Governor and Lt. Governor on school voucher proposals that would probably take money from our local public schools. He was promised a primary opponent and has one in Karen Post of Plainview.

District Attorney, 31st Judicial District

Incumbent Franklin McDonough is opposed by Todd L. Alvey who has been disciplined by the State Bar of Texas as shown at www.texasbar.com under the Find a Lawyer icon. I support McDonough.

CONTACT INFORMATION

If anyone has questions or information for me, please mail me a letter, email me at oshearer@me.com or telephone or text me at 806.435.8555.