Taylor's job has been to find the people Texas locked up for crimes they didn't commit and get them out — she ran post-conviction work with Travis County's Conviction Integrity Unit. Before that she wrote the rules for the Court of Criminal Appeals itself, as its staff attorney. Now she wants a seat on it.
She's board-certified in criminal appeals, admitted to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court, and ran the Travis County DA's public-integrity division, prosecuting corruption and fraud. When the State Bar polled Texas lawyers, she out-polled each of the Republicans in the race. Her opponent, John Messinger, won his primary with the backing of True Texas Project and has never been a judge. She and her husband John met playing in a band — she sang — and raised four kids in Austin public schools.
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Judges aren't allowed to take sides on these values — it's against judicial ethics rules. The best clue to how a judge thinks is the party they run with.