Texas Judge Gets Challenger Kicked Off Ballot for Coercion

A Houston lawyer was booted from the race for a judge seat after a court found she tried to coerce the incumbent to drop out.

Kimberly McTorry threatened to make public Judge Lauren Reeder’s decade-old affair with a local attorney, Reeder said Thursday in a hearing. A judge ruled hours later that McTorry is barred from the ballot for the seat currently held by Reeder.

“This conduct renders McTorry administratively ineligible to be certified as a candidate for judicial office,” Judge Christi Kennedy wrote in the late-evening order.

The decision came after two days of contentious hearings that featured testimony from the candidates, a forensic writing expert and lawyers Chauntelle White and Michael Harrison who were present during a conversation that McTorry cited in her own counterclaim of coercion.

Reeder is seeking a third term on Houston’s 234th Civil District Court. McTorry is a criminal defense attorney who previously served as a judge.

Kennedy, a senior judge, was assigned to preside over the hearing. Judge TaKasha Francis of the 152nd Judicial District Court previously voluntarily recused herself from the hearing.

Reeder in a court filing alleged that McTorry “overtly threatened to publicly reveal damaging personal information about me that would get back to my husband, children and other family members.” She said McTorry tried to “extort” her by demanding that Reeder drop out of the race and using a co-conspirator to spread “vile, offensive” social media posts.

Reeder said McTorry coordinated with a Houston Democratic activist to threaten to expose the affair on social media after she did not drop out of the race. While McTorry denied the claims in court, Judge Kennedy said in her order Thursday that she found McTorry’s testimony “not credible as the timing of the social media post was unlikely to be a coincidence.”

McTorry violated Texas election law by trying to intimidate Reeder into exiting the race, Kennedy said. McTorry also forged some signatures and obtained others from suspended voters in order to get the 250 needed to qualify as a candidate, Kennedy found.

Kennedy rejected McTorry’s request for a mistrial, with her attorney Trinidad Zamora III arguing the two-day hearing violated her due process rights and that the court did not have jurisdiction over what should be considered a criminal case.

Reeder declined to comment. McTorry and Zamora did not respond to requests for comment.

Late-Night Hearing

A hearing on dueling requests for injunctions began Wednesday and spilled into the next day and night in the district court’s ceremonial room. Proceedings drew several local officials including state Rep. Jolanda Jones of Houston.

Taking the witness stand Thursday, Reeder said she had a two-month affair with AZA Law partner Todd Mensing in 2013, while she was an associate at the firm. She said in response to questioning from Zamora that Mensing appeared once in her court—either in 2023 or 2024—but she did not disclose the relationship.

“I did not recuse in that case,” Reeder said. “I did not believe I needed to.”

Joe Ahmad, AZA Law’s founding partner, said by phone that the firm was aware of the hearing.

“We’ve been in all courts in Harris County, in front of all judges in the Southern District,” Ahmad said. “Judge Reeder treats us like essentially all the judges do. I don’t think we get favorable treatment from her or any other judges.”

Mensing said Ahmad spoke on behalf of him and the firm. He declined to further comment.

AZA has donated to Reeder’s campaigns, and other candidates over the years, Ahmad said. “She’s a good judge and we have an interest in keeping highly competent judges in Harris County,” he said.

Reeder filed an “emergency election challenge” in Harris County District Court on Jan. 12, asking the court to prevent McTorry from running in the March 3 Democratic primary contest. Reeder won a temporary restraining order the following day, halting the printing or mailing of ballots featuring McTorry.

The deadline for mailing ballots to voters overseas is Jan. 17.

McTorry was an associate judge handling criminal matters in Harris County from 2023 to 2025. She worked from 2014 and 2018 as an assistant district attorney, advising local and federal agents on human trafficking and organized crime felony cases, according to her LinkedIn bio.

She filed her own petitions seeking to remove Reeder from the ballot. McTorry alleged Reeder violated the state election code by “effectuating” a $50,000 donation from a law firm to McTorry in exchange for her dropping out of the race for Reeder’s seat and seeking a different judgeship, according to court documents.

Kennedy denied McTorry’s petition, saying it contained “materially false allegations about an attempt to bribe or coerce her to seek a different office or withdraw altogether.”

Before the hearing, McTorry requested a jury trial and that the judge dismiss the action for “lack of subject-matter jurisdiction,” saying that Reeder mentioned in the lawsuit “criminal” or “crime” about 20 times. Kennedy shut down the renewed request at the end of the proceedings.

“You have done nothing but kind of stall and bumble around and delay,” she said to Zamora.

McTorry can challenge the order at a trial set for March 2.

Reeder’s attorney, Lloyd Kelly, told Bloomberg Law that Texas judges are required to set trial dates when they issue injunctions. “It may or may not happen,” he said.

“This is a historic case,” Kelly said. “It is drawing the line that you cannot campaign for a position on the ballot as a judge if you engage in what is basically extortion.”

Reeder is represented by Kelly and attorney James D. Pierce in Sugar Land. McTorry is represented by Zamora of Zamora Legal Defense in Houston.

Kathryn McNiel, a campaign consultant for the Reeder campaign, said “We are ready to win the Democratic primary based on Judge Reeder’s record of fairness, understanding of the law, and integrity.”

The case is Lauren Reeder v. Mike Doyle et al, Tex. Dist. Ct., 2026 02060, 1/15/26