Prior to her appointment to the state supreme court,Guzman was one of nine justices on the Fourteenth Court of Appeals in Houston,where she participated in deciding thousands of civil and criminal appeals and wrote hundreds of published opinions. She also served as an adjunct professor at the University of Houston Law Center. Before she was appointed to the appellate court,Guzman sat on a Family District Court bench in Harris County. [6]
Texas Supreme Court
At the time of her appointment to the supreme court,then-Governor Perry called Guzman a "principled conservative with an "unmatched work ethic". [4] [6] Guzman won the GOP nomination for her seat in the primary election held on March 2,2010. She defeated Judge Rose Vela of the 13th Court of Appeals 721,456 (65.3 percent) to 384,135 (34.7 percent). [7] In the November 2 general election,Guzman defeated Democrat Blake H. Bailey. [8]
In the Republican primary election held on March 1,2016,Guzman won renomination for a second six-year term by defeating Joe Pool,the son of Joe R. Pool,a Democratic U.S. representative from Dallas who died in 1968. She received 1,269,231 votes (59.2 percent) to Pool's 874,128 (40.8 percent). [9] In the November 8,2016 general election,Guzman defeated her Democratic opponent,Savannah Robinson,with 4,884,441 votes (55.8 percent),to 3,445,959 (39.4 percent) for Robinson. Two other contenders,Don Fulton and Jim Chisholm of the Libertarian and Green parties,respectively,polled 304,587 votes (3.5 percent) and 119,022 (1.4 percent). [10]
Guzman did not serve out her last term on the supreme court. In her June 7,2021 resignation letter to Governor Greg Abbott,Guzman expressed gratitude for the opportunity to serve the people of Texas and highlighted her work on two supreme court commissions devoted to children in the legal system and access to justice for Texans of limited means. [11] While Justice Guzman did not give a reason in her letter of resignation,within a couple of weeks she announced that she was running for Attorney General.
2022 Texas attorney general election
Guzman formally announced on Monday, June 21, 2021 that she was running for the Republican nomination for attorney general. [12] Guzman's announcement meant that the current incumbent, Ken Paxton, who is embroiled in multiple civil and criminal controversies, acquired a second high-profile challenger from within his own party. [13] Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush announced his bid to take on Paxton earlier in the year, [14] a move under consideration since 2020 in light of the mounting ethics and public integrity issues surrounding Paxton. [15] Also in November 2021, U.S. Representative Louie Gohmert announced his candidacy, making it a four way primary again. [16]
Guzman subsequently came in 3rd in the Republican Primary, receiving 17.5% of the vote and failing to qualify for the subsequent runoff. [17]
