Marc M. Meyer, a Democratic attorney and former Houston firefighter, is running for Place 3 on the Texas 15th Court of Appeals. Allen and Collin County voters will see the statewide race on their ballots in the general election. The court has exclusive jurisdiction over civil appeals brought by or against state executive branch agencies.
Meyer said he is running because of his specialization in administrative law, according to his questionnaire responses to Surround Sound News. He is board certified in administrative law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, a credential he said none of the current justices hold.
"None of the current justices have expertise in this area of law, which I anticipate will be a majority of the cases that come before the Court," Meyer said in his questionnaire.
Candidate information
- Party: Democrat
- Office sought: Texas Appeals Court Justice, District 15, Place 3
- Election date: Nov. 3, 2026
- Education: Bachelor's in biology, Cornell University (1986); master's in biochemistry, Texas A&M University (1989); associate degree in nursing, Regents College (1998); J.D., South Texas College of Law (2009)
- Family: Married to Sandra for more than 30 years. She works for law firms reviewing medical records. Two children: Matthew, a Sam Houston graduate working in logistics, and Jennifer, a senior in chemical engineering at UT-San Antonio.
Experience and public service
Meyer spent more than two decades in Houston-area public safety and health care before entering law. He retired in 2011 as a captain and paramedic supervisor with the City of Houston Fire Department, where he served starting in 1990. He has been a licensed registered nurse since 1998, working in medical-surgical, neuroscience, intensive care and emergency departments at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital and Methodist Hospital in Houston.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Meyer returned to nursing for about 18 months, providing night on-call coverage for a hospice provider, according to his questionnaire.
His legal career is focused. Since passing the bar in 2009, Meyer has operated a solo law practice representing health care providers before licensing agencies. He is also of counsel for a medical malpractice defense firm. He chaired the Montgomery County Democratic Party from 2015 to 2020 and was the Democratic nominee for the 457th District Court in Montgomery County in 2020.
Meyer cited his appellate work in administrative cases as evidence of his qualifications. He said he prosecuted the first case in which the Texas Board of Nursing lost an appeal of its administrative decisions, Banda v. Texas Board of Nursing in 2018.
On the issues
Court independence: Meyer said the 15th Court of Appeals was originally created as a common appellate court for business courts. He said the addition of exclusive jurisdiction over state government appeals was a political response to decisions from the Austin-based 3rd Court of Appeals. Still, he said most cases turn on statutes, regulations, prior precedent and facts rather than politics. He said his legal career centers on holding state government accountable for its actions.
Judicial philosophy: Meyer described his approach as rooted in prudentialism, emphasizing pragmatism, caution and consideration of real-world consequences over abstract legal principles. He said he promises impartiality while recognizing the power of the state needs to be tempered by individual rights, according to the Texas Tribune.
Partisan judicial elections: Meyer called partisan elections the worst method to choose judges except for all other methods. He said appointment and retention elections seem reasonable but depend on a single partisan election for appointments. He said the issue is ultimately one for the Legislature to determine.
Case management: Meyer said prompt decisions depend on staffing levels, caseload mix and broader socioeconomic factors. He said developing efficient case-tracking systems and optimizing support staff would help the court decide cases promptly while giving each appeal careful review.
Meyer has received endorsements from more than a dozen labor and Democratic organizations across Texas, including the AFL-CIO, the Dallas AFL-CIO Council, the Bay Area Democratic Movement and the Victoria County Democratic Party, according to his candidate profile.
