Democratic Dallas Criminal District Court Judge Tina Clinton won a seat on the Dallas-area Fifth Court of Appeals over Republican attorney Matthew Kolodoski, according to official election results — a reversal of the state’s initial election night tally that appeared to show Kolodoski winning.
The latest results, updated just before 1 p.m. Tuesday, show Clinton won by 1,596 votes — the smallest margin of all the court's elections.
Unofficial data from the Texas Secretary of State’s website previously showed Kolodoski winning the Place 9 seat on the Fifth Court of Appeals over Clinton by 1,512 votes.
Clinton confirmed to KERA News she was told two weeks ago that the inclusion of additional mail-in and provisional ballots resulted in her late win. She wrote in a Nov. 15 Facebook post that Kolodoski personally congratulated her and wished her luck on the court, which hears appeals in civil and criminal cases from Collin, Dallas, Grayson, Hunt, Kaufman and Rockwall counties.
"I'd like to thank all the Democrats who supported me, the outstanding incumbent Justices who ran alongside me, my incredible campaign team of Jeff Dalton and Zach Bullard, and my donors and supporters," her post reads.
Clinton declined to comment on the record beyond her Facebook post. Kolodoski did not respond to requests for comment.
While some news organizations project election results based on unofficial data reported on election night, official results can only be certified by the Texas Secretary of State’s office. KERA News does not call races and our reporting showed Republicans appeared to win based only on the unofficial results.
But counties will still accept mail-in ballots if they're postmarked by 7 p.m. on Election Day and are received by 5 p.m. the following day. In addition, provisional ballots are offered to voters who declare they are a registered and eligible voter in their precinct and whose eligibility is called into question by an election official. The process of verifying these votes and votes by mail can take days.
Election results must then still go through a lengthy canvass process, the official examination of votes cast in an election, in order to be certified locally or by the state. That also comes with the potential for recounts.
Republican and fellow Dallas Criminal District Court Judge J.J. Koch won the race for chief justice on the Fifth Court of Appeals, the position responsible for court administration and staff management. He told KERA News he knew final results showed Clinton’s win but declined to comment further.
Clinton was elected as judge of Dallas County Criminal Court 1 in 2018 and won reelection in 2022. She had two years left in her term for that position.
Before her time as a criminal district court judge, Clinton was the judge for Dallas County Criminal Court 8, a misdemeanor court, and had years of experience as a municipal judge. She'll replace Justice Bill Pedersen III, who did not run for reelection.
Kolodoski is a litigation attorney with the national law firm Thompson, Coe, Cousins and Irons, where he’s been since 2017. He has trial and appellate experience in state and federal courts.
These results still mean seven of the 13 justices on what was once a predominantly Democratic court will be Republican. That includes Place 13 Justice Emily Miskel, a Gov. Greg Abbott appointee who was previously the court’s lone Republican and won reelection this year.
Unofficial election results across the state showed a similar red wave among the state’s 15 intermediate appeals courts — Republicans will now likely make up the majority of seats on those courts. That’s up from about 50% before this year’s election.
The Republican candidates across the state were financially backed in part by the Judicial Fairness PAC. The group was looking to unseat Democratic judges, specifically those in Dallas that the group accused of letting criminal defendants out of jail on bail too often, contributing to the city's crime.
But the PAC only officially endorsed appellate court judges, who don't have direct say over pretrial detention and bail decisions. That along with a donor list that included billionaires and oil and gas companies with Texas ties led some political observers to question whether the PAC was more interested in electing appellate judges more friendly to business interests. The group has denied those claims.
A "blue wave" in 2018 ushered Democrats into office across Texas, including the Fifth Court of Appeals. The reversal in this year's election means some decisions made by trial court judges in more liberal urban counties will now be appealed to a more conservative judiciary.
But in addition to Clinton, some Democrats found victory in appellate court races in San Antonio, El Paso and Austin.
"I know my victory is bittersweet because we lost several outstanding Justices on the court," Clinton wrote in her Nov. 15 Facebook post. "I pledge to serve tirelessly with honor and fairness."
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