Dallas criminal defence attorney Okey Anyiam has won a seat on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state’s highest court for criminal cases, in Tuesday’s US midterm elections. His campaign and supporters are celebrating him as the first African immigrant ever elected to the court.
“Judge-Elect Okey Anyiam makes history,” read a message shared by his supporters on social media, thanking Texas voters.
The result
Anyiam, a Democrat, defeated Republican Thomas Smith, an assistant attorney general, in the open race for Place 3. According to unofficial results from the Texas Secretary of State, reported by The Center Square, Anyiam won 50.15% of the vote to Smith’s 47.46%. Libertarian Mark Ash took about 2%.
The Texas Tribune reported on Wednesday that Anyiam was leading with more than 96% of votes counted, but noted that the Associated Press had not yet formally called any of the 10 statewide court races. The results remain unofficial until they are certified.
Part of a historic Democratic sweep
Anyiam’s win was part of a remarkable night for Democrats in Texas courts. Democratic candidates led or won all of the statewide judicial races on the ballot, according to The Center Square and the Texas Tribune. They included Maggie Ellis, who defeated Chief Justice Jimmy Blacklock for the Texas Supreme Court, and Audra Riley and Holly Taylor, who won the other two Court of Criminal Appeals seats on the ballot.
A Democrat last won a seat on either the Texas Supreme Court or the Court of Criminal Appeals in 1994, the Texas Tribune noted. The Court of Criminal Appeals is currently made up entirely of Republicans. If the results hold, Republicans will still have a 6–3 majority on the court.
What the court does
The Court of Criminal Appeals is Texas’s court of last resort for criminal matters. Its nine judges are elected to staggered six-year terms. Besides hearing appeals in criminal cases, the court hears death penalty appeals directly from trial courts, the Texas Tribune explained. That makes it one of the most powerful criminal courts in the United States, given the number of executions carried out in Texas.
Who is Okey Anyiam?
Anyiam is a criminal defence lawyer based in Dallas who has been licensed to practise law in Texas since 1997, according to the voter guides Vote the Person and TexasJudges.org. He has about 28 years of experience defending clients on charges ranging from misdemeanours to capital felonies, according to the voter information site Branch.
The race was his first run for political office. He was unopposed in the Democratic primary and topped the State Bar of Texas’s non-binding judicial poll for the seat. He is married to Chika Anyiam, who is also a judge, and they have four children.
Anyiam is an Igbo name, and his supporters describe him as an African immigrant. Flashinfong could not independently confirm details of his country of birth or his early education, and we will update this story when more information is available.
Why it matters for the diaspora
His victory adds to a strong night for Nigerian-Americans and other Africans in US politics, after Will Jawando, Junior Ezeonu, Oye Owolewa and Carol Kazeem also won their races. A seat on a state’s highest criminal court is one of the most senior judicial posts an immigrant can win through an election in the US, and it gives African communities a voice in decisions that shape the criminal justice system in America’s second most populous state.
What happens next
Once the results are certified, Anyiam is expected to take his seat on the court in January 2027 for a six-year term.
Sources: The Texas Tribune, The Center Square (via Yahoo News), KSAT, TexasJudges.org, Vote the Person, Branch.
