Republicans who’ve been completely shut out of district court judgeships in deep blue Bexar County are instead turning their attention to a trio of seats on the Fourth Court of Appeals — a more politically competitive region where the GOP has cobbled together some limited success in recent years.

While district court judges are elected by just the voters in Bexar County, this San Antonio-based court hears cases from 32 counties across South Texas and the Hill Country.

Though that larger district has still sent far more Democrats to the court than Republicans in recent years, last election cycle Republican Lori Valenzuela (R-Place 7) narrowly won her race to hold a seat that she was appointed to by Gov. Greg Abbott. On the same ballot, fellow Republican Todd McCray lost to a Democratic incumbent in the race for Place 6 by an equally small margin.

Seizing on that opportunity, this year Texas Republicans are putting money behind three more Fourth Court of Appeals candidates on the Nov. 5 ballot, who they say offer an opportunity to stop “soft-on-crime” Democratic judges.

The Houston-based Judicial Fairness PAC reported spending $290,000 on ads to help McCray, who is running again in an open race for Place 3 this year, Lori Massey Brissette (R), who is challenging incumbent Luz Elena Chapa (D-Place 4), and Adrian Spears (R), who is running against incumbent Liza Rodriguez (D-Place 5). The PAC reported more than $10.7 million on hand as of Sept. 26.

“I don’t think we could really see the opportunity to win Bexar County by itself… just looking at the numbers,” said Brissette, who served as a district court judge in Bexar County back when such seats regularly changed hands between the two parties.

The county’s last Republican-held district court judgeships flipped to Democrats’ hands in 2022, and this year no GOP candidates even signed up to run in those races.

“In this race… there’s 31 counties outside of Bexar County,” Brissette said of the Fourth Court of Appeals contests. “It absolutely looks like, with the turnout that we expect in the rural counties, [they] could make up for any Republican losses in Bexar County.”

Place 2

This seat will stay in Democratic hands this year, but will have a new judge after District Court Judge Velia Meza (D) defeated a member of her own party, incumbent Beth Watkins (D-Place 2), in the Democratic primary.

Now she is unopposed in November.

Meza could have run against the court’s lone Republican, Lori Valenzuela (R-Place 7), who didn’t draw a challenger this year. Instead she focused her energy on the primary in a race where Republicans didn’t field a candidate for the general election.

Place 3 

Incumbent Judge Patricia Alvarez (D-Place 3) retired before the end of her term, and Abbott appointed Lori Massey Brissette (R) to fill her seat in July. Because the retirement happened after the filing deadline, Brissette had already signed up to run for Place 4 this November.

The now-open race for Place 3 features Democrat Cynthia Marie Chapa, who is currently a judge in the 288th Civil District Court, against Republican Todd McCray, a private attorney who has worked as a special prosecutor in Bexar County and ran unsuccessfully for Place 6 in 2022.

Place 4

Incumbent Democrat Luz Elena Chapa (D-Place 4), who has served on the court since 2013, faces a challenge from Lori Massey Brissette, who previously served as a judge in the 288th District Court.

Place 5

Incumbent Liza Rodriguez (D-Place 5), who was first elected in 2018, faces a challenge from Republican Adrian Spears, who has a background in municipal law and comes from a family of judges in South Texas.

Place 7

Lori Valenzuela (R-Place 7) was appointed to the court in 2021 by Abbott, and defeated a Democrat in a November 2022 special election to hold the seat.

This year Valenzuela, formerly a judge in the 437th Criminal District Court, is running unopposed for a full six-year term.

Correction: This story has been updated to correctly state that Velia Meza is running in Place 2.