Last week, Dallas Voice ran a story listing many out candidates running for a variety of offices from the DFW area and across Texas. Nicholas D. Palmer wrote that we left him out. We’re delighted to have heard from him and excited to add him to the list.

Palmer describes himself as “a gay cis-gender male and Democratic candidate for Justice on the Texas Fifth Court of Appeals, Place 8.” He’s the first out candidate to run for a seat on the Fifth Court of Appeals and, if elected, would be only the third out justice on any court of appeals in Texas, according to his campaign’s research.

The Fifth Court of Appeals hears civil and criminal appeals from trial courts in Dallas, Collin, Grayson, Hunt, Rockwall and Kaufman counties and is based in the Allen Courts Building in downtown Dallas.

Palmer is board certified in both Civil Appellate Law and Labor & Employment Law and has argued and briefed hundreds of cases in appellate courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, the Texas Supreme Court and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. With 15 years of experience, he currently works as the Chief Appellate Attorney for the ninth largest city in the U.S.

His campaign said Palmer’s perspective as a father and a foster-to-adopt parent informs his approach to the law, emphasizing careful, fair decision-making and respect for the real people affected by appellate rulings.

“The Court of Appeals is often the last stop for Texans seeking justice in civil and criminal cases,” Palmer wrote. “North Texans deserve a steady, principled justice who will apply the law fairly and treat every person with dignity.”

The campaign also pointed to Out for America, a national project that tracks out LGBTQ+ elected officials, as evidence of how rare LGBTQ+ representation remains in judicial offices in Texas — especially at the appellate level.

In information sent to Dallas Voice by his campaign, Palmer describes his family is a product of judicial decisions. He married his husband — a long-time public high school teacher, now an attorney and bilingual charter school administrator — in Washington, D.C. in 2014 following the Supreme Court’s Windsor decision, which led to federal recognition of same-sex marriages, even if state law did not recognize the marriage. Palmer adopted his three children from the foster care system, first with their son in 2018 and then with their daughters in 2022. They live in Coppell.

— David Taffet

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