It seems that runoff election voters were paying attention enough to down-ballot judicial races to reject three candidates who have been accused of wrongdoing.

It might seem being charged with a crime would be such a handicap that candidates would never win. Not so.

Texas voters in the past have elected public officials despite indictments for felony offenses. For example, former Judge Rudy Delgado won a spot on the Thirteenth Court of Appeals while indicted for judicial bribery.

Also, Attorney General Ken Paxton was indicted in 2015, his first year in office, for felony securities law violations. That didn't matter to voters: Paxton won reelection in 2018, and the charges are still pending to this day.

But this time, the electorate slapped down two judge candidates—one was an incumbent–who are charged with crimes. Another incumbent judge lost her seat, even though she was only accused of dirty campaign tactics.

The two candidates charged with crimes who lost their races are incumbent Judge Alexandra Smoots-Thomas of Houston, a Democrat, and candidate Eric Yollick of Conroe, a Republican. The third candidate, accused of unethical campaigning, was incumbent Judge Laura Strathmann of El Paso.

The explanation lies in the differences between voters who cast ballots in runoff elections versus general elections, said Josh Blank, research director of the Texas Politics Project at The University of Texas at Austin.

The general election ballot is so long that voters don't have time to research the candidates, especially down-ballot judge races, so a voter uses his or her partisan affiliation to elect the candidate of his or her own party.

"Runoff elections are different beasts," said Blank. "Only the most committed and engaged voters make the effort to turn out."

Runoff ballots are much shorter, and voters are willing to take the time to learn about the candidates, he added.

"If you are a voter in a district in which your runoff ballot has three races on it, with six total people, it's not asking a lot for someone to Google those six names," Blank said. "If the first thing that comes up when you Google a judicial candidate's name is they have been engaged in malfeasance, that's probably enough for most voters to choose the other candidate."

Losing candidates

Picking the other person is just what happened for three judge candidates spread across Texas.

Judge Alexandra Smoots-Thomas

Last fall, federal officials indicted Smoots-Thomas for wire fraud in a case that alleged she used her campaign finance account to pay for her mortgage, her children's private school and luxury goods like jewelry and designer handbags. Smoots-Thomas, who was suspended from the 164th Civil District Court just after her indictment, has denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty.

In a landslide election, Cheryl Elliott Thornton ousted Smoots-Thomas become the Democratic candidate for the race. Thornton won 71% of the vote in the runoff and now will face off against Republican candidate Michael Landrum in November.

Smoots-Thomas didn't respond to a call or email seeking comment. Neither did Landrum.

Thornton said she thinks she won because runoff voters took the time to research both candidates, uncovering Smoots-Thomas' indictment and also learning about Thornton's own qualifications.

"Quite a few years ago, I ran against another candidate who had criminal activity and in the runoff election I was not elected," said Thornton, a senior county attorney in Harris County. "So this truly restores my faith in the voters—my faith in the education of the voters—my faith especially in those individuals who come out for a runoff. In Harris County, the runoff election total was at an all-time high. It shows me voters that educate themselves can make the right decision."

Yollick, who was running for Montgomery County's 457th District Court, lost his race to Vince Santini, who garnered 78% of the vote in the Republican runoff. Santini now competes against Democrat Marc M. Meyer in the general election.

Yollick has pleaded not guilty to Class C misdemeanor criminal mischief for egging a county official's vehicle to protest a COVID stay-home order. He argues he didn't commit a crime because he cleaned the egg and it did not cause property damage.

Yollick didn't return a call or email seeking comment before deadline.

Vince Santini

Santini said that we're living in "crazy times" because of the pandemic and Black Lives Matter movement in which monuments are being torn down, and it's pushed voters toward seeking justice.

"It was a combination: More exposure for me because of less candidates, environmental factors getting people interested and wanting a sense of justice, and my opponent not doing himself any favors," Santini said. "People want to do the right thing."

Meyer, the Democratic candidate for the 457th District Court, said he was surprised that Santini won by such large margins, because he believed that Yollick had a base of voters who would turn out for him.

"Obviously, the electoral base that he had in the primary was affected by the allegations against him," Meyer said. "The egging of the car was just a step too far for most people."

He said he believes his general election campaign against Santini will be mcuh more respectful, and fitting of a judicial race, than if he had to run against Yollick.