Who is running for Justice, 5th Court of Appeals District, Place 3 in 2026?

Partner, Gette Law PLLC

Matthew Kolodoski is a partner at Gette Law PLLC, which he joined in 2025, after working at Thompson, Coe, Cousins & Irons¹. He earned his law degree from Southern Methodist University in 2013 and earlier clerked for a federal district judge¹. His firm biography and campaign site list no judicial office¹². He is the Republican nominee for Place 3 against Democrat Amanda Reichek³.

• Partner, Gette Law PLLC, 2025 to present; Thompson, Coe, Cousins & Irons, L.L.P., 2017 to 2025; law clerk to Judge Irma C. Ramirez, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas, 2015 to 2017; Mackoy, Hernandez & Qualls, LLP, 2013 to 2015¹
• JD, Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, 2013; Board Certified in Consumer and Commercial Law and in Insurance Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization¹²
• Advanced from the March 3, 2026 Republican primary⁴. He was also the Republican nominee for Place 9 in 2024 and lost the general election to Tina Yoo Clinton, 49.9 to 50.1 percent⁴. The Place 3 seat is held by Justice Bonnie Lee Goldstein, who is not a candidate⁵.
• Bar poll: State Bar of Texas 2026 Judicial Poll, final vote summary dated February 10, 2026⁶. The State Bar describes it as a non-partisan straw poll of current State Bar members, a preference poll only that has no bearing on the election, and says the results should not be viewed as an endorsement⁷. Results: Amanda Reichek 433, Matthew Kolodoski 233⁶.

Of Counsel, Tillotson, Johnson & Patton; former Fifth Court of Appeals justice

Amanda Reichek served on the Fifth Court of Appeals from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2024¹. She is of counsel at Tillotson, Johnson & Patton and was in private practice before taking the bench². She is the Democratic nominee for Place 3 against Republican Matthew Kolodoski³.

• Justice, Fifth Court of Appeals (Place 10), January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2024¹
• Attorney and shareholder, The Reichek Firm, 2009-2015; earlier attorney at Tanner & Associates, Waters & Kraus and Janette Johnson & Associates; JD, Texas Tech University, with honors, 2003²
• Took her appellate seat January 1, 2019 and left it December 31, 2024¹. Democratic nominee, unopposed in the March 3, 2026 primary⁴. The Place 3 seat is held by Justice Bonnie Lee Goldstein, who is not a candidate⁵.
• Bar poll: State Bar of Texas 2026 Judicial Poll, final vote summary dated February 10, 2026⁶. The State Bar describes it as a non-partisan straw poll of current State Bar members, a preference poll only that has no bearing on the election, and says the results should not be viewed as an endorsement⁷. Results: Amanda Reichek 433, Matthew Kolodoski 233⁶.