Three new faces will join the bench, but the political balance of power is likely to remain the same on the Court of Criminal Appeals.

Three incumbent judges with nearly a century of criminal law experience fell victim to Paxton’s political revenge tour after they ruled against the attorney general in a 2021 voter fraud case.

The attorney general has tried to supplant eight Republican judges on the court after they rejected his efforts to unilaterally prosecute voter fraud. The judges are now pushing back.

Paxton promised to go after the Republican judges over their 2021 ruling that struck down the attorney general’s ability to unilaterally prosecute voter fraud.

Ken Paxton at the inauguration ceremony of Judge Michelle Slaughter at the state capitol. A federal judge in Texas has temporarily blocked the Biden administration's 100-day moratorium on deportations of some undocumented immigrants. Federal Judge Drew Tipton on Tuesday issued the order after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued President Joe Biden's administration late last week alleging the moratorium is unconstitutional, and violates an agreement between the Department of Homeland Security and Texas. “Within 6 days of Biden’s inauguration, Texas has HALTED his illegal deportation freeze,” Paxton tweeted after the order. Citizenship and Immigration Services agencies as the Biden administration "develops its final priorities," according to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security.

Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas TribuneTexas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Thursday asked the Legislature to grant his office more power to investigate when police kill people after George Floyds death at the hands of Minneapolis police sparked calls for law enforcement reform nationwide. To restore that confidence, I am asking the Texas Legislature to empower the Texas Attorney Generals Office to investigate and, where appropriate, prosecute law enforcement officer actions that end in death.Fatal police encounters rarely result in criminal prosecution of officers. A 2016 investigation by The Texas Tribune showed only seven of 880 Texas officers involved in shootings had been indicted. In Texas, criminal prosecution falls to local prosecutors unless they explicitly seek the involvement of the attorney general. That year, Paxton also proposed granting his office the authority to investigate and prosecute human trafficking crimes, but the proposal failed in the Texas House.