Busby, Triana /Photos by Campaigns
We have asked candidates running for various offices to answer questions for our Voter Guide. While full responses are available here, we are offering you an excerpt in “Candidate Comparisons” ahead of the November 3, 2020 general election. Each response below came directly from the candidate’s questionnaire and is unedited.
Brett Busby, Republican (Incumbent)
Occupation: Justice, Supreme Court, Place 8
Why are you the best candidate for voters to support for this position in 2020?
I am a seventh-generation Texan and third-generation Eagle Scout who grew up partly in Amarillo, attending St. Andrew's and Wolflin Elementary. My 22-year career as an appellate litigator and appellate judge has prepared me to be a leader on the Supreme Court. I am the only sitting Justice who specialized in appellate work in private practice: I argued cases in the U.S. and Texas Supreme Courts and appellate courts across the state, and I handled the jury charge and legal issues in many civil trials. I am a former U.S. Supreme Court law clerk who is Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law, and my fellow Texas appellate lawyers recently elected me as Chair of the State Bar Appellate Section.
My record shows that I serve the people of Texas as a fair judge who listens attentively, works hard, and rules impartially based on the law—not on personal or partisan preference. Take it from the lawyers who know me and my opponents best: (1) I'm honored to be rated consistently among the best and most impartial appellate judges in Texas in anonymous polls, (2) I won the State Bar of Texas lawyer poll for this race, and (3) I was named Appellate Judge of the Year in 2018 by the Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialists. I would be honored to have your vote to continue serving you on the Texas Supreme Court.
Gisela D. Triana, Democrat
Occupation: Justice, 3rd Court of Appeals
Why are you the best candidate for voters to support for this position in 2020?
I believe I am the best qualified for this position. For over 24 years, I have served as a judge in Texas. I worked my way up from Municipal Court to Justice of the Peace, to County Court, to District Court, and most recently, to the Appellate Court. If elected, I will be the only person on the TX Supreme Court who has served at every lower level court of the judiciary. Most of my 32-year legal career has been in public service. As a civil district judge for 14 years in Travis County and as Justice on the 3rd Court of Appeals, I have dealt with all the types of cases that appear before the Supreme Court, and so I am ready to do the job and will need little, if any training. While on the 3rd Court of Appeals, I have authored the most opinions in both years I've served there. I have earned a reputation for being fair, courteous, deliberate, knowledgeable in the law and for listening to all sides of a case and I humbly ask for your support.
Tom Oxford, Libertarian
Candidate did not respond to questionnaire by deadline.