Reporter-News photo by Nellie Doneva Judge Jim Jordan, running for Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court, is speaking at the Abilene Bar Association's luncheon at the Abilene Country Club.

Reporter-News photo by Nellie Doneva Jim Jordan

Reporter-News photo by Nellie Doneva Sam Houston, running for the Texas Supreme Court, Place 7, speaks to the Abilene Bar Association's luncheon at the Abilene Country Club.

Reporter-News photo by Nellie Doneva Sam Houston

A pair of Democratic candidates for the Texas Supreme Court brought their campaigns to the monthly meeting of the Abilene Bar Association at the Abilene Country Club on Friday.

Each presented a common theme: Changes are needed.

Jim Jordan, running for chief justice, seeks a change in the way judges are selected.

Sam Houston, running for Place 7, wants more diversity on the court, specifically an end to an all-Republican bench.

While Jordan is a trial lawyer with 29 years experience, including terms as a trial judge in Dallas County, Houston, who grew up in Colorado City, has been a practicing attorney for more than 20 years and is running for office for the first time.

"Politics has no place in the courtroom," Jordan said. "As an attorney, you want to know as much as you can about your judge. I don't remember ever asking if the judge was a Democrat or a Republican.

"We need to select the best lawyers, the best scholars to be our judges, not the best politicians."

One suggestion Jordan offered would be a retention election for a sitting judge, where the public would vote on whether or not to keep the judge.

Jordan sees the selection of state judges by election being overshadowed by larger events that have nothing to do with the state positions. A question he recently received at a candidate's forum was, "Tell us how this bailout (in the wake of recent financial failures, a national issue) is going to impact what you are going to do for us."

The public has real issues regarding trusting elected judges, Jordan said.

The three 2008 Supreme Court races have garnered more than $2 million in donations, he said, mostly from lawyers, business political action committees and special interests -- parties who will be appearing in these courts.

"We need to eliminate that if we want to have a strong judiciary and a system in Texas that has the trust of the public," Jordan said.

Houston, meanwhile, spoke of dangers he perceives to the trial-by-jury system in Texas.

"We've got a problem with our civil justice system," Houston said. "It's under attack from special interests."

The jury system works, he said, but cited outside influences that are causing the public to lose confidence in the judicial system. The perception, he said, is that the court is not balanced.

As a private citizen, Houston spoke several times at gatherings about his feelings. That gained him the attention of party leaders, who encouraged him to run for a spot on the Texas Supreme Court.

Houston emphasized that he doesn't believe the current members are doing anything wrong or dishonest, just that, with so much money coming from special interests, it's hard not to be influenced. Consumers, often not represented by special interests, can feel they are getting skewed opinions.

"The best way to make it a fair and balanced system is to have both parties represented, have new blood on the court," he said. (The current nine-member court is all Republican.) "I think a good way to start would be to have a Democratic trial lawyer named Sam Houston."