Republican Matthew J. Kolodoski is running for Place 3 on the Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals in the Nov. 3, 2026, general election.

This candidacy is listed in the Texas secretary of state’s official November 3, 2026 certification for Collin County.

Kolodoski faces Democrat Amanda Reichek. On his campaign website, Kolodoski said he is running to provide "equal and impartial justice" and to "apply the law as written" without "favor, prejudice, or preconception."

  • Name: Matthew J. Kolodoski
  • Party: Republican
  • Office sought: Texas Appeals Court Justice, District 5, Place 3
  • Background: Grew up in Frisco, Texas, according to his campaign website
  • Education: Bachelor's degree in political science and history from the University of Houston (2010); juris doctor from Southern Methodist University (2013). Kolodoski said on his campaign website that he graduated summa cum laude from the University of Houston.
  • Board certifications: Consumer and commercial law, and insurance law, both from the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, according to his campaign website
  • Endorsements: Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC; Kenda Culpepper of the Rockwall County Criminal District Attorney's Office

Kolodoski is a partner at Gette Law PLLC, according to the firm's website. He previously worked at Thompson, Coe, Cousins & Irons L.L.P. as associate attorney, senior attorney and partner from 2017 until joining Gette Law in 2025. Earlier in his career, he clerked for the Honorable Irma C. Ramirez at the U.S. District Courts from 2015 to 2017.

He serves as treasurer of the Texas Supreme Court Historical Society and vice president of the Dallas Insurance Law American Inn of Court, according to the Gette Law website. He has chaired the State Bar of Texas Constitutional Law Section since 2016, according to his campaign website. He also served as a section representative on the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors from 2018 to 2021.

Kolodoski has received several professional recognitions. The Gette Law website lists the 2024 Serjeant of the Inn Award from the American Inns of Court, the 2025 Richard Alderman Award for Excellence from the State Bar of Texas, and Best Lawyers' "One to Watch: Appellate Practice" designation from 2023 to 2025. His campaign website states he received the State Bar of Texas's Patrick Wiseman Award for Civil Rights in 2024.

Judicial philosophy: Kolodoski said on his campaign website that whether a person is "rich or poor, an individual or a corporation, a plaintiff or a defendant," they are "entitled to equal and impartial justice." He said a judge's duty is "to apply the law as written, to consider every argument with care, and to decide every case without favor, prejudice, or preconception."

Responses are based on public data and answers to a Surround Sound Media questionnaire if they were provided.