Free Republic

Ciro wins one Rodriguez's re-election hopes alive; Cuellar to fight ruling BY TRICIA CORTEZ Times staff writer Wednesday afternoon, attorneys in the drawn-out electoral battle between Henry Cuellar and Ciro Rodriguez received the long-awaited phone call from the 4th Court of Appeals. In a 2-1 vote, the three-judge panel reversed the ruling of the lower court, stating the visiting trial judge erred when he did not allow Rodriguez to introduce evidence of alleged voting irregularities. The case has been remanded back to Laredo for trial although no date has been set. Just last week, Cuellar expressed confidence the court would...

State justice undeterred by opponent's support, money Supreme Court justice appealing to conservative Republicans By David Pasztor AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Wednesday, March 3, 2004 While Texas Supreme Court Justice Steven Wayne Smith was speaking over the clatter of forks and glasses at a Republican Club of Austin luncheon Tuesday, his opponent was out campaigning in the company of Gov. Rick Perry. While Smith was reporting that he has raised about $95,000 for his bid to keep his seat on the state's highest civil court, challenger Paul Green announced that his fund-raising totals about $450,000. Smith continues to methodically campaign, apparently unperturbed...

The race for Place 5 on the Texas Supreme Court includes an unusual twist: the incumbent is playing the role of the outsider. Justice Steven Wayne Smith is facing Paul Green, a well-funded challenger from San Antonio, in the Republican primary. Smith, 42, won a seat on the state's highest court in November 2002 without any prior judicial experience or hefty campaign contributions from major law firms. In the process, he irked Gov. Rick Perry by defeating the governor's Republican appointee to the bench, Xavier Rodriguez. History seems to be repeating itself this year as Smith takes on Green, 51,...

Despite opposition from some GOP stalwarts, Steven Wayne Smith says he remains best for the job. From a distance, it would seem that Steven Wayne Smith should be safely nestled in his seat on the Texas Supreme Court. He is a Republican incumbent in a state firmly controlled by the party, an avowed conservative sitting alongside eight other GOP justices whose philosophies fall mere shades apart on the political spectrum. But Smith has worn a target on his back since he upset Gov. Rick Perry's hand-picked favorite for the court in 2002. In his brief tenure, Smith has never been...

Other officeholders faring better going into primaries, financial reports show. Steven Wayne Smith was something of an unwelcome guest at the Republicans' party when he first won election to the Texas Supreme Court in 2002. Now, campaign finance reports show that political action committees for many of the state's largest law firms and big-money GOP donors appear eager to defeat the quixotic justice in next month's primary, which will probably determine who wins Smith's current seat because no Democrat has filed for the November general election. The high court contest is the most high-profile in a year of down-ballot races...