| Ten days after being repudiated by Travis County voters, Jeff Rose has been selected by Governor Rick Perry to fill a seat on the Third Court of Appeals. The seat became vacant when Republican Alan Waldrop resigned two years before his term was set to expire. Rose was defeated on November 2 by Democrat Tim Sulak. The Third Court will have four Republicans, including the recently elected Melissa Goodwin, who defeated Kurt Kuhn, a Democrat who had attracted high-profile support from former Republican State Supreme Court Justices. Rose will likely be a top Democratic target in 2012. Kuhn, a far more qualified candidate than Goodwin who found himself caught up in the Republican wave, could be a strong candidate against Rose in two years. What do Rose and Goodwin share in common? Besides their new jobs on the Third Court of Appeals, they also were both Perry appointed Travis County District Judges who lost handily when they were forced to face the voters (Goodwin was soundly defeated by Jim Coronado in 2008). The Third Court of Appeals, once one of the state's most respected courts, has certainly seen better days. |
