From the Texas Tribune: Paxton’s push to oust incumbents puts spotlight on Court of Criminal Appeals primaries

Both the Texas Attorney General and Governor are attempting to remove opponents within their party by campaigning against them in the party primary.

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The three incumbents running for their seats on Texas’ highest criminal court were not well known political figures outside of the legal community. That was until they earned the ire of Attorney General Ken Paxton in response to a 2021 opinion over a voter fraud case.

Now, the three female Republican justices on the Court of Criminal Appeals, Presiding Judge Sharon Keller, Judge Barbara Hervey and Judge Michelle Slaughter, find themselves in the position of having their conservative credentials questioned in “low-information elections” in which they’re up against Paxton’s political machine.

“The Court of Criminal Appeals, who I am concerned was put there by George Soros ‘cause no one knows who they are, they’re all Republicans but even Republicans don’t know who they are,” Paxton told former Fox News host Tucker Carlson last month, referring to the Democratic mega donor.

The three incumbents, who have nearly a century of combined experience practicing criminal law, as prosecutors and jurists, have been accused by Paxton’s allies of abandoning their judicial duties and stripping the attorney general’s power to enforce voter fraud — a consequential issue for the modern-day GOP under former President Donald Trump.

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- Judge rejects attempts to toss indictments against Texas AG Ken Paxton, keeps April trial on course.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton remains on track to be tried for felony fraud this spring after the presiding judge shot down his attempts to have the charges thrown out.

During a Friday court hearing in Houston, Harris County District Court Judge Andrea Beall rejected Paxton’s arguments that his right to a speedy trial had been violated.

Beall’s decision means that, barring another unexpected delay, Paxton’s securities fraud trial will kick off on April 15. The proceedings are much anticipated; the attorney has been under active indictment for nearly nine years. He has pleaded not guilty.

Special prosecutor Brian Wice applauded Beall’s decision and said Paxton was the reason these cases have not yet gone to trial.

“We think that the general’s fingerprints, footprints and DNA were all over the delays,” said Wice, a private criminal defense lawyer brought on to represent the state after the local district attorney recused himself.

During the hearing, Paxton’s defense attorney Dan Cogdell blamed the prosecutors for much of the delay. He said their attempts to be paid — which have been unsuccessful since 2016 — put off the trial for years.