The Texas Tribune has an article today about the challenge in the Republican primary to incumbent Justice Felipe Reyna of the Waco Court of Appeals. Justice Reyna was appointed by Governor Perry in 2003 and reelected in 2004.
Justice Reyna is being challenged by fellow Republican and longtime Ellis County district judge Al Scoggins, who has picked up endorsements from the Texas Medical Association, former Chief Justice Tom Phillips, and former Justice Scott Brister.
The article has some quotes from both the TMA and Brister about why they are supporting Scoggins. The TMA says it follows the “friendly incumbent rule” and that “Judge Reyna is not a friendly incumbent” on the issues that matter to them. In correspondence with the Texas Tribune, Brister noted the Tenth Court’s high rate of being reversed, and in a quote posted on Scoggins’s campaign site, says that Scoggins has “the experience and demeanor that an appellate judge needs.”
Reyna defended his record, saying that he has ruled for both sides (“Hell, I’ve got the Texas trial lawyers mad at me, too”), and noted that his own campaign site would soon be updated to include more endorsements.