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Endorses Silva

The race

Place 6 on the Thirteenth Court of Appeals, sitting in Corpus Christi and Edinburg, hearing civil and criminal appeals from 20 South Texas counties including the Crossroads and parts of the Rio Grande Valley. November 3, 2026. Verified roster: Clarissa Silva (R), the incumbent, vs. John Ball (D).

Clarissa Silva — Incumbent. On this court since January 1, 2021. Before the bench she prosecuted in the Nueces County District Attorney's Office and the San Patricio County Attorney's Office. Her campaign's stated priorities: "protecting constitutional principles, due process and fair application of the law" — the restraint pairing, in her own campaign's words. Credits: six years of appellate service built on a prosecution foundation. Dirt check: no discipline or ethics record found in the sources worked; no signature ruling was retrieved, and her public file is the thinnest of the incumbent Republicans in this batch — service and stated priorities, without a deep opinion record captured here.

John Ball — Challenger. A McAllen lawyer practicing family and criminal law, previously in the Hidalgo County DA's Border Prosecution Unit, and double board certified in Criminal Law and Family Law — a genuinely rare dual certification. Credits: border-prosecution experience speaks directly to this district's docket reality, and dual certification is verified expertise, not biography padding. Dirt check: no discipline found; he has never been a judge, and no judicial philosophy statement beyond his practice record was retrieved.

Pros and cons

Silva: Pros: Sitting appellate justice; prosecutor's background; campaign priorities stated in constitutional/due-process terms. Cons: Thin public record for an incumbent — few voters could name a ruling, and neither could this pass. Ball: Pros: Double board certification; Border Prosecution Unit service in the district he seeks to serve. Cons: Unproven as a judge; no appellate record.

Record gaps

Search record: Ballot Brief's judge profiles (both candidates — service, practice, campaign priorities), the Secretary of State certification, and the statewide compilation were worked for both names; local-news and questionnaire hits for this race were sparse beyond those profiles, and no bar-poll figure was retrieved. Both gaps are stated here per the standard — the digging was done; the published record in this down-ballot South Texas race is genuinely thin on both sides.

OUR CALL

Our call: endorse Clarissa Silva. Incumbency plus stated philosophy: a sitting justice whose campaign names constitutional principles and due process as her priorities, against a well-credentialed but never-served challenger. Ball's dual certification is the strongest challenger credential in the district races and we credit it — credentials for practice are not a record of judging, and the incumbent has six years of the real thing.

Vote Silva.

For the complete Election 2026 breakdown — every race, claim by claim — see the full coverage on our website.

Vote early. Research your candidates. Choose the best moderates, whatever their party — no extremism from either side. And encourage your friends and family to do the same.

Sources

Election result — November 4, 2026

Result pending. No verified call (Associated Press or official) as of November 4, 2026. This page will be updated when the race is called or certified. The original article above is unchanged.

AI-assisted article — but the sources are human, and the facts are very real.

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