COURT OF APPEALS RACES THE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY CONTESTS

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1 COURT OF APPEALS RACES THE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY CONTESTS 8th COURT OF APPEALS in El Paso Incumbent Justice Steven Hughes is facing four challengers in the Democratic Primary. There is no Republican filed for this seat. A runoff is likely. STEVEN HUGHES Steven Hughes appears to be the best choice for Democratic Primary voters in this race. Justice Hughes is being challenged by four other candidates in the Democratic Primary, Even though he calls himself a "proud Democrat", Justice Steven Hughes was appointed to this seat by Gov. Perry in October, 2014, after applying for the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Guadalupe Rivera. It is assumed that Perry could not find a Republican willing to take the appointment and then probably lose in 2016 to whomever the Democrats nominated since this is a strongly Democratic district. Hughes is a native of Big Spring, Texas, and attended Texas Tech University earning both a Bachelor's degree (1975) and Master's degree (1976) in applied music. He continued his education in the doctoral programs in music at the University of Minnesota and the University of North Texas. He abruptly changed career paths by attending the University of Texas School of Law where he graduated (with honors) in After law school, Justice Hughes served as a briefing attorney for Chief Justice Clarence Guittard on the Dallas Court of Appeals. He then practiced for 28 years in El Paso handling hundreds of appeals in state and federal court. Board certified in Civil Appellate Law Named a Texas Super Lawyer in appellate law ( ) Top 50 Central/West Texas Super Lawyer in 2014 Listed in Best Lawyers in America ( ) Received Martindale Hubbell's highest rating- AV Preeminent.

2 GENA M. PALAFOX (no image could be found) Ms. Georgena Marie "Gina" Palafos is an attorney in solo private practice in El Paso. She graduated from Pepperdine University School of Law in Previously in private practice with a broad general practice, including medical malpractice, she currently is listed as employed by the Compliance Department at University Medical Center in El Paso She received the second highest Martindale Hubbell rating of BV Distinguished. Her Courts of Admittance are listed as: U.S. Supreme Court, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Illinois Northern District Court and Texas Western District Court. ROBERT PEREZ (no image could be found) Mr. Robert Joseph Perez is a practicing attorney in El Paso. He notes his practice areas include Personal Injury, Civil Rights, Federal Criminal Trials and Appeals and Taxation while his State Bar of Texas practice profile pages lists only criminal law. Received his J.D. degree from the University of Michigan in 1985 and is rated BV Distinguished by Martindale Hubbell. Courts of Admittance: U.S. Supreme Court, Fifth and Tenth Circuit Court of Appeal, Texas Western District Court MARIA RAMIREZ Judge Maria Bertha Ramirez has a private law practice in El Paso along with serving as an Associate Municipal Judge. She received her law degree from Indiana University after

3 competing undergraduate work at the University of Texas at El Paso, earning a B.S. degree.she lists her practice areas as Criminal, Family, Wills, Trusts, Probate and Appellate. Courts of Admittance: US Supreme Court, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Texas Western District Court ARTURO VAZQUEZ Mr. Vazques is another solo practitioner in El Paso and specializes in Business, Immigration and International law. He earned his law degree from Creighton University in 1994 and joined the State Bar of Texas in He received the second highest Martindale Hubbell rating of BV Distinguished. Courts of admittance: Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Texas Northern District Court, Texas Southern District/Bankruptcy Court, Texas Western District Court 13th COURT OF APPEALS in Corpus Christi Republican Incumbent Justice Greg Perkes is running unopposed in the Republican Primary and will face the winner in the Democratic Primary race between Carlos Valdez and Letitia Hinojosa. CARLOS VALDEZ

4 Mr. Valdes has a long history serving in local government. After receiving his J.D. from the University of Oklahoma Law School, he was an Assistant County Attorney in 1981, County Attorney from 1985 to 1992 and Nueces County District Attorney from 1993 to More recently he served as Corpus Christi City Attorney. Aside from his long career in politics, he is well known for prosecuting Tejano star Selena Quintanalla's killer 20 years ago. He received the highest rating from Martindale Hubbelll- AV Preeminent. The one blemish on his resume is his loss last year when he ran for the County Court at Law#4 bench. LETITIA HINOJOSA Judge Hinojosa graduated from High School in Brownsville and earned a B.A. in government from the University of Texas, graduating Magna cum laude. She received her J.D. from the University of Texas School of law in Her law practice is located in Edinburg. She was elected to the Hidalgo County Court at Law #4 in 1989, becoming the first Latina Judge to be elected in the Rio Grande Valley, and reelected to that bench before winning two terms on the 139th District Court in Hidalgo County. She held that seat until 2004, when she unsuccessfully sought the Democratic primary nomination for Congress against U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin. She does not list any Courts of Admittance on her page at the State Bar of Texas. 14th COURT OF APPEALS in Houston

5 There are Primary contests for both parties in the open Place 2 seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Justice Sharon McCally. CANDANCE WHITE Candance J. White is listed on the State Bar of Texas website as a government lawyer specializing in ADR, Family, Government/Administrative, Law Office Management, Wills- Trusts-Probate, Elder Law, and Juvenile law. She received her J.D. from the University of Texas School of law in 1993 and her Masters of Law from University of Houston School of Law in She has no visible footprint on the internet and little is known about her. Democratic voters in this district should find out more about her and if her qualifications are at least reasonable she should get their vote since her opponent Jim Sharp has enough baggage to fill a railway baggage car. JIM SHARP IN SHORT--BAD NEWS James Patrick Sharp, Jr. was elected to the First Court of Appeals in November 2008 as part of the Democratic sweep in Harris County that year. He was probably also boosted by sharing the same last name with John Sharp, one of the last bright stars in the Texas Democratic Party. He ran for re-election in 2014 un-opposed in the Democratic Primary but lost to current Republican Justice Russel Lloyd. That came after the Houston Chronicle had recommended that Justice Sharp not be reelected because of his disciplinary record while on the appellate bench. Sharp received a Public Reprimand by the State

6 Commission on Judicial Conduct. (followed by a like resolution by a special court of inquiry assembled by the Texas Supreme Court) Sharp's antics included jumping on his desk and having his picture taken by a photographer for the Houston Chronicle, removing furniture under cover of darkness without facility management approval, and picking a fight with security personnel at the courthouse merely because they would not let him bypass the metal detector screening without showing his badge (something that they were required to do). Those incidents were mild compared to what was to come. In 2012, Justice Sharp was barred from hearing a neighboring county's cases in a dispute over a shoplifting charge against a friend's daughter. Sharp faced allegations of trying to use his influence to help a friend's 15-year-old daughter. The girl was arrested January 17, 2012 for allegedly shoplifting nearly $190 worth of merchandise. In a voice mail to a state district court judge in Brazoria County, Sharp ranted, "If I had been there in person and had a baseball bat, that (expletive) would have been cracked upside the head." Sharp went on to call Brazoria County authorities as "a bunch of backwoods hillbillies" and promising that "things are going to change" in that county south of Houston because nobody jumped or saluted when he first butted in on the shoplifting matter. Brazoria County District Attorney Jeri Yenne alleged Sharp attempted to improperly demand the juvenile's release and sent inappropriate texts and voice messages to county employees. Yenne filed a complaint with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct and asked that Sharp be recused from Brazoria County cases. The appeals court agreed. From a Houston Chronicle Editorial in 2012: -- Perhaps most tellingly, Sharp blasted county employees for addressing him as "Mr. Sharp" rather than as judge. "Brazoria County juvie folks are nit (sic) just arrogant but ignorant!" Sharp texted. "When an appeals court justice calls and identifies himself and then they refer to me as 'Mr.' Sharp, it bespeaks a fundamental misunderstanding of respect and pecking order." Ahem. Sharp graduated from South Texas College of Law in Houston after attending the University of Texas at Austin as an undergraduate. He is unrated by Martindale Hubbell and not board certified. Sharp's listing with the State Bar of Texas says he is with the firm of Schneider, Wallace Cottrell, Konecky and Wotkyns, a personal injury plaintiff's firm specializing in class action suits. But their current website does not list Sharp as being one of their attorneys.