Jimmy Blacklock
Republican · TX · Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas
Jimmy Blacklock is the Republican incumbent Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court, elevated to chief justice by Governor Abbott in 2025 after serving as an associate justice since 2018. A UT-Austin and Yale Law graduate, he clerked on the Fifth Circuit, worked at Vinson & Elkins and the U.S. DOJ, and served as Governor Abbott's general counsel before joining the court. He faces Democrat Maggie Ellis in the 2026 general election.
Track record
Gun Control
· 1 record
Filed a September 26, 2024 concurring opinion explaining that Texas had not shown entitlement to emergency relief requiring the privately operated State Fair to allow handguns, because the State had not argued that Texas law prohibited the Fair's firearms policy.
September 26, 2024For
Source: txcourts.gov · researched July 12, 2026
Civil Rights
· 1 record
Filed a June 28, 2024 concurrence in Hensley v. State Commission on Judicial Conduct arguing that the court should reach the merits of a judge's Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act claim concerning officiating same-sex weddings.
June 28, 2024For
Source: txcourts.gov · researched July 12, 2026
Legal Competence
· 2 records
Wrote the Texas Supreme Court's August 2021 opinion holding that the Texas Constitution authorizes each legislative chamber to compel the attendance of absent members — including by physical compulsion — issued after Texas House Democrats fled the state to break quorum over an elections bill.
August 1, 2021For
Source: en.wikipedia.org · researched July 3, 2026
Authored a May 2020 concurring opinion questioning the constitutionality of government COVID-19 emergency orders, writing that tolerating unconstitutional orders during an emergency abandons the Constitution when it is needed most.
May 1, 2020For
Source: en.wikipedia.org · researched July 3, 2026
Elections
- Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Texas · November 3, 2026 · Texas · incumbent
Profile last researched July 3, 2026.