Dennise Garcia

Dennise Garcia

Democratic Party

Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals Place 8

Tenure

2021 - Present

Term ends

2026

Years in position

3

Prior offices

Texas 303rd District Court

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Report an officeholder change

Compensation

Base salary

$154,000

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 3, 2020

Education

Bachelor's

Southern Methodist University

Law

Southern Methodist University

Contact

Official website

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Personal Facebook

Personal Twitter

Personal Instagram

Personal LinkedIn

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Dennise Garcia (Democratic Party) is a judge for Place 8 of the Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals. She assumed office on January 1, 2021. Her current term ends on December 31, 2026.

Garcia (Democratic Party) ran for election as Chief Justice of the Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals. She lost in the Democratic primary on March 5, 2024.

Education

Garcia received her undergraduate degree and J.D. from Southern Methodist University.

Career

• 2021-Present: Judge, Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals
• 2004-2021: Judge, 303rd District Court
• 2003-2004: Attorney, K. Dennise Garcia, P. C.
• 1995-2003: Attorney, Goranson, Bain & Larsen, L.C.
• 1993-1995: Attorney, Ron Massingill, P.C.

Awards

• 2007: SMU Women’s Symposium, Profiles in Leadership Award
• 2006: Merrill Hartman Judicial Pro Bono Service Award
• 2003-2004: Texas Super Lawyer in Texas Monthly and Law and Politics Magazine
• 2001: College of the State Bar of Texas: Best CLE article, “Speaking in Codes” (co-author)
• 1990: SMU “M” Award

Associations

• State Bar of Texas
• Annette Stewart American Inn of Court
• Dallas Bar Association
• Dallas Hispanic Bar Association (f/k/a Mexican-American Bar Association)

Elections

2024

See also: Texas intermediate appellate court elections, 2024

General election

General election for Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals Chief Justice

Staci Williams and J.J. Koch ran in the general election for Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals Chief Justice on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate
		Staci Williams (D)
		J.J. Koch (R)

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	There are no incumbents in this race. The outcome of this election has not been called yet.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals Chief Justice

Staci Williams defeated Dennise Garcia in the Democratic primary for Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals Chief Justice on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Staci Williams	53.9	83,464
		Dennise Garcia	46.1	71,274

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 154,738
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals Chief Justice

J.J. Koch advanced from the Republican primary for Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals Chief Justice on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		J.J. Koch	100.0	188,764

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 188,764
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

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Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Garcia in this election.

2020

See also: Texas intermediate appellate court elections, 2020

General election

General election for Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals Place 8

Dennise Garcia defeated incumbent Bill Whitehill in the general election for Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals Place 8 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dennise Garcia (D)	52.9	827,189
		Bill Whitehill (R)	47.1	736,706

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,563,895
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals Place 8

Dennise Garcia advanced from the Democratic primary for Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals Place 8 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dennise Garcia	100.0	274,088

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 274,088
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals Place 8

Incumbent Bill Whitehill advanced from the Republican primary for Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals Place 8 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Bill Whitehill	100.0	178,520

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 178,520
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2018

General election

General election for Texas 303rd District Court

Incumbent Dennise Garcia won election in the general election for Texas 303rd District Court on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dennise Garcia (D)	100.0	471,665

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 471,665
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Texas 303rd District Court

Incumbent Dennise Garcia advanced from the Democratic primary for Texas 303rd District Court on March 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dennise Garcia	100.0	91,568

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 91,568
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2016

See also: Texas judicial elections, 2016

Garcia ran for the Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals in the 2016 elections. She ran unopposed in the March 1 primary faced Republican incumbent David Schenck in the November general election. Garcia registered for the 2016 race as a Democrat.

Election results

November 8 general election

Incumbent David Schenck defeated Dennise Garcia in the general election for the Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals, Place 7.

Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals, Place 7, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	David Schenck Incumbent	51.59%	635,952
	Democratic	Dennise Garcia	48.41%	596,728
Total Votes (100% reporting)				1,232,680
Source: Texas Secretary of State Official Results

March 1 primary election

Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals, Seat 7, Democratic Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Dennise Garcia  (unopposed)	100.00%	136,500
Total Votes (100% Reporting)				136,500
Source: Texas Secretary of State Official Results

2014

See also: Texas judicial elections, 2014
Garcia ran for re-election to the 303rd District Court.
Primary: She ran unopposed in the Democratic primary on March 4, 2014.
General: She won without opposition in the general election on November 4, 2014.  

Selection method

See also: Partisan election of judges

The judges of the Texas District Courts are chosen in partisan elections. They serve four-year terms, after which they must run for re-election if they wish to continue serving.

Though Texas is home to more than 400 district courts, the courts are grouped into nine administrative judicial regions. Each region is overseen by a presiding judge who is appointed by the governor to a four-year term. According to the state courts website, the presiding judge may be a "regular elected or retired district judge, a former judge with at least 12 years of service as a district judge, or a retired appellate judge with judicial experience on a district court."

Qualifications
To serve on the district courts, a judge must be:

• a U.S. citizen;
• a resident of Texas;
• licensed to practice law in the state;
• between the ages of 25 and 75;*
• a practicing lawyer and/or state judge for at least four years; and
• a resident of his or her respective judicial district for at least two years.

*While no judge older than 74 may run for office, sitting judges who turn 75 are permitted to continue serving until their term expires.

2010

See also: Texas district court judicial elections, 2010

Garcia was re-elected after running unopposed.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Dennise Garcia did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Dennise Garcia did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Dennise Garcia campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals Chief Justice	Lost primary	$173,785	$178,744
Grand total			$173,785	$178,744
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

See also

2024 Elections

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