Democrat Ellis Wins Texas Supreme Court Seat
Four Democrats unseated Republican incumbents on the nine-justice court in an election held Tuesday, changing the court's makeup in January.
Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in Criminal Justice
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Should Texas let the American Bar Association accredit its law schools again?
Maggie Ellis, a Democrat, won election to the Texas Supreme Court as part of a group of four Democrats who unseated Republican incumbents on Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Ellis plans to seek a return to American Bar Association accreditation of Texas law schools.
Why it matters
The Texas Supreme Court earlier this year voted to end the state's decades-long reliance on ABA accreditation of law schools over the ABA's diversity, equity, and inclusion requirements. The move tracked attacks on the ABA by the Trump administration and other Republican states.
Four Democrats won seats on the nine-justice Texas Supreme Court in the election held Tuesday, November 3, 2026, with Ellis set to join and lead the court in January 2027. The extraction does not report how the new justices will rule on the ABA accreditation question.
The players
Maggie Ellis
Maggie Ellis is a Democrat who won election to the Texas Supreme Court and plans to revisit the court's ABA accreditation decision.
Texas Supreme Court
The Texas Supreme Court is the state's highest civil court, a nine-justice body that voted earlier this year to end reliance on ABA accreditation.
The details
Ellis wants to revisit the court's earlier decision to end reliance on ABA accreditation when she joins the bench and leads the court in January. The ABA's diversity, equity, and inclusion requirements were the stated reason for the state's earlier vote.
Timeline
Earlier in 2026: Texas Supreme Court votes to end reliance on ABA accreditation of law schools.
Tuesday, November 3, 2026: Four Democrats unseat Republican incumbents on the Texas Supreme Court.
January 2027: Ellis joins and leads the nine-justice court.
Legal Context
The Texas Supreme Court's earlier vote to end reliance on ABA accreditation of law schools followed attacks on the ABA by the Trump administration and other Republican states. Ellis's election places the court's accreditation policy under new leadership that wants to revisit that decision.
Texas law school accreditation rules and the state's high court policies affect prospective lawyers and the public who rely on the bar's standards. The court's direction on accreditation may shape which law schools graduates of Texas programs can practice from.
The takeaway
Judicial elections can shift a state's high-court policies within a single cycle, as the Texas accreditation question now shows. Readers following legal education should watch how the court acts once the new justices take the bench in January.
What happens next
Ellis is scheduled to join and lead the nine-justice Texas Supreme Court in January 2027, when she is expected to revisit the ABA accreditation decision.
Further reading
For more on the state's legal system, see Criminal Justice coverage of Texas courts.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Bloomberglaw.
Live Poll
Should Texas let the American Bar Association accredit its law schools again?
