OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Republicans will flip a Texas judgeship in November that has been in Democrat hands for more than a decade after the presiding judge decided not to seek reelection.
Judge Roy Ferguson of the Texas 394th District Court, a Democrat, has held the position since 2013, but he announced last month he won’t seek a fourth term. And with no Democrats running for the position filing ahead of the March primary, the seat will flip to the Republican column this fall.
It should be noted that the district borders Mexico in the state’s southwest corner near El Paso, and illegal immigration under the Biden administration has reached record highs in the modern era. It’s not clear if that had any bearing on a Democrat not filing for the seat.
Calling the judgeship “the greatest honor of my career,” Ferguson said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on December 11, “Today at 6 pm, the filing period closed on the next election for the 394th District Court judgeship. I chose not to run for a fourth term in that position.”
Newsweek adds:
Two Republicans are looking to succeed Ferguson—attorney Monty Kimball and state prosecutor Bill Parham. Whoever wins the primary will run unopposed in the general election. The judges on Texas district courts serve four-year terms, after which they must run for reelection if they wish to continue serving.
West Texas has become increasingly Republican in recent years, with the shift largely attributed to the influx of migrants at the southern border. The 394th District Court is the largest judicial district in Texas and includes more than 20 percent of the U.S.-Mexico border.
“The flip shows the strength of the Republican Party in Texas,” Alex Badas, an assistant professor specializing in judicial politics at the University of Houston, told the outlet. “In the case of the 394th District Court, the Democrats are not even running a candidate. By not running a candidate for the 394th District Court, [this] indicates that Democrats do not think they have any chance of winning the seat.”
Historically, the area covered by the judicial district has favored Democrats. But just two of the district’s five counties voted for Joe Biden in 2020. Also, the district shifted further to the right during the 2022 midterms as just one county supported Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke’s challenge against Gov. Greg Abbott.
“Notably, no Democrats are running for Texas’ 83rd District Attorney’s Office, which shares a considerable portion of the region covered by the trial court. And a growing number of prosecutors and sheriffs in South Texas have recently announced their departures from the Democratic Party in direct response to the Biden administration’s handling of the border crisis,” Newsweek reported.
Nationally, Biden’s approval ratings across a range of demographics have all but collapsed as the final year of his term begins.
Revolver News, breaking down pollster Richard Baris’ assessment, described the results of a new survey this way on Tuesday:
Key demographic groups aren’t just mad at Joe Biden; they’re abandoning him in droves. When you consider his historically low polls, this isn’t a traditional “presidential slump” that can be brushed off and fixed with some stumping and handshaking. What we’re witnessing right now, and what the media won’t tell you, is that this is a “CODE RED” in the political world. We’re watching the complete collapse of a political figure, and the media is in a frenzy, trying to cover it up.
“The Suffolk/USAToday Poll is showing what we’re all seeing, which is NOT a normal weak showing 1-year out for an incumbent president seeking re-election,” Baris noted on the X platform.
“Historically, he’s far below Barack Obama at this point (who won) and significantly lower than Donald Trump (who lost). H.W. Bush was higher, but his approval was falling RAPIDLY from far higher than Biden has ever been,” he added.
