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Endorses Farris

The race

Place 3 on the Fifteenth Court of Appeals — statewide jurisdiction over state-party cases, constitutional challenges, and Business Court appeals — first election November 3, 2026, voted statewide. Verified roster: April Farris (R), the appointed incumbent, vs. Marc Meyer (D).

April Farris — Incumbent. A founding justice (September 1, 2024), arriving from the First Court of Appeals in Houston, where Abbott appointed her in 2021 — Harvard Law, Abilene Christian undergraduate, a clerkship for Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod on the Fifth Circuit, appellate practice representing clients including ExxonMobil and Uber, and service in the Texas Solicitor General's office. Houston's endorsement coverage in her First Court tenure called her well-regarded on a seven-Democrat court, her conservative background adding "rigor to the court's process" — a cross-aisle competence verdict from the other side's hometown paper ecosystem. On the Fifteenth Court she has authored opinions on real-estate damages and sales agreements. The AWA endorsed Farris in 2026. Dirt check: no discipline found; she is the youngest profile in this trio of races and her judicial record, while real (2021–present), is the shortest of the three incumbents.

Marc Meyer — Challenger. A Houston lawyer whose biography is unlike any other in this batch: twenty years as a Houston fire captain and paramedic, a registered nurse, and a board-certified attorney running his own firm. The Texas AFL-CIO endorsed him, and his slate's pitch is that he "knows exactly whose side the state should be on." Credits: two decades of public-safety service is a genuine ledger — he has carried Texans out of burning buildings, and we print that without irony. Dirt check: no discipline found; the priced con is the pitch itself — "whose side the state should be on" is an advocacy frame for a seat whose job is deciding against the state when the law requires it, from a candidate with no judicial or appellate record retrieved.

Pros and cons

Farris: Pros: SG's-office + Fifth Circuit clerkship + five years judging across two appellate courts; praised by the other party's court-watchers; AWA endorsement. Cons: Shortest tenure of the Fifteenth Court incumbents; a corporate-client practice history voters weigh. Meyer: Pros: Fire captain/paramedic/nurse — unmatched public-service biography; board certification; labor endorsement. Cons: No bench or appellate record; a side-taking campaign frame for a neutral's seat.

OUR CALL

Our call: endorse April Farris. Meyer's life of service earns respect, and this article gives it. A constitutional-challenges court, in its precedent-building infancy, needs the candidate who has clerked the Fifth Circuit, argued for the Solicitor General, and judged for five years — with the other side's own court-watchers testifying to her rigor. Farris is unproven only in length, not in kind.

Vote Farris.

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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