Texas Voters Reject Amendment to Raise Judicial Retirement Age to 79

Voters reject extension of judges' tenure with alarm over aging officeholders, fails nearly 2-to-1 despite no organized opposition.

Texas voters overwhelmingly rejected Proposition 13, a proposed constitutional amendment that would have extended the judicial retirement age to 79, in line with multiple states nationwide over the past decade.
Despite no organized opposition to the proposition, voters declined the proposal by an almost 2-to-1 margin.
Proponents of the defeated proposal believed that it would have allowed experienced judges to stay in office longer and that increased life expectancy made raising the mandatory retirement age appropriate.
Since 2011, other states like Arizona, Ohio, New York and Hawaii have also rejected similar measures to raise retirement ages for judges, whereas Pennsylvania and Florida approved such efforts.
Age is becoming increasingly significant in US politics, a factor that may play a role in the potential 2024 rematch between President Biden, 80, and former President Trump, 77.