GOP Holds on to Texas High Courts, Despite $1M in Democratic Spending

All six Republican incumbents retained judgeships on the two top courts in Texas despite a spirited campaign by Democrats.

Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson, the first African-American member of the Texas Supreme Court, retained his seat along with Justices Dale Wainwright and Phil Johnson, the Austin American-Statesman reports.

Republicans have held all the seats on the state supreme court since 1999 and all the seats on the Court of Criminal Appeals since 1994. Democrats had spent $1 million in television ads in an attempt to oust the incumbents, the Associated Press reports.

Wainwright said the race was a difficult one against opponent Sam Houston. "They picked the guy with the catchiest name to run against me," he told AP. "It's a tough name.

Criminal appeals judges Cathy Cochran, Tom Price and Paul Womack all defeated their election opponents.