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Election defeat stuns incumbent Harris Co. judges
District judges at the Harris County civil and criminal courthouses were shocked and somber a day after voters gave nearly every incumbent seeking re-election their walking papers."Though we anticipated it would be close, to see really good judges swept out is still stunning," said civil District Judge Patricia Kerrigan, a Republican who won her race by about 2,500 votes. Kerrigan said most of the civil judges who lost were in the courthouse working on Wednesday. Other judges said some of their colleagues were shell-shocked. The straight-party Democratic voting that ushered in a new batch of civil and criminal district judges in Harris County was not the biggest surprise. But the fact that four Republican judges survived Democratic challenges left courthouse observers to speculate how they did it. The most common theory is that voters were wary of Democrats with uncommon names. The GOP judge with the highest percentage of votes was civil Judge Sharon McCally, whose opponent was Ashish Mahendru. Other Democrats who lost were Mekisha Murray, Andres Pereira and Goodwille Pierre. They lost to incumbent judges Mark Kent Ellis, Patricia Kerrigan and Joseph Halbach, respectively. "How common a person's name is has always been a factor in judicial races," said civil District Judge Mark Davidson, who lost the bench he's had since 1989. "Up until 1987, people named Smith ran 14 times and won 14 times." Smiths have lost a couple of times since. Unspoken rule tossed Davidson and others said the names matter because judicial races are just too hard for voters to research. One factor is low media coverage. Another is that judges can't say much that distinguishes themselves, since they can't comment on the cases they handle. Civil District Judge Sharolyn Wood, who lost the seat she's had since 1985, lamented that voters have lost "about 250 years of judicial experience" in this sweep. She said Harris County's judiciary has been kept stable by an understanding that experienced judges weren't challenged, but that unspoken agreement was tossed out this year. Posted by: Fred 2008-11-07 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=254566 |