Prominent Republicans hosted a fundraiser last week for Kurt Kuhn, Democratic nominee for Justice on the Third Court of Appeals. Former Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Phillips, former Justice Craig Enoch, and former Justice Scott Brister publicly endorsed Kuhn in July and were among the hosts for last week's event at the Headliners Club.
Former Chief Justice Phillips introduced Kuhn to the guests, remarking on the unusual nature of the occasion. "I'm sorry to say that it is considered newsworthy that we are here tonight endorsing the best qualified candidate. In every judicial race, we should endorse and support candidates based on their individual merit. There is no question that Kurt Kuhn is the best, most qualified candidate in this race."
Former Justice Enoch echoed Phillips' remarks: "I've always said that one must support the best qualified person for the job. In this election, that person is undoubtedly Kurt Kuhn."
Kuhn addressed the guests, noting his gratitude for the broad, bipartisan support his campaign has received. Kuhn said, "Our judicial elections have become too partisan. At the very least, it creates the perception among some people that our courts are not always impartial. It is important to me to seek bipartisan support. If I'm elected, I won't be a Democrat- I'll be a judge."
Phillips closed his remarks by saying, "We should be grateful that Kurt is willing to take his considerable talent and energy and devote them to public service."
Dubbed "Republicans and Independents for Kurt Kuhn," the event was also hosted by prominent attorneys including former Texas Solicitor General Greg Coleman, Bruce Bennett of Cardwell, Hart & Bennett, L.L.P., and Pete Winstead of Winstead PC.
Chief Justice Phillips served on the Texas Supreme Court from 1988-2004. Justice Enoch served from 1993-2003, and Justice Brister served from 2003-2009.
Democratic nominee for the 3rd Court of Appeals including Austin and large parts of Central Texas has reported raising nearly a quarter million total for this campaign to date. In the most recent reporting period covering the first half of the year, Kuhn showed $121,370.84 raised over the past six months. He reported cash on hand of $126,904.25 out of $241,520.82 total raised for his campaign.
Over the past six months, the Kuhn campaign received 423 donations from 375 individual donors, for an average of $286.93 per contribution. Overall, Kuhn has received support from 819 donors during his campaign.
Contributors to Kuhn's campaign represent all areas of legal practice, including civil attorneys, criminal defense attorneys, prosecutors, and government agency attorneys. Law firms supporting Kuhn range from the state's largest to solo practitioners. Kuhn's report also reflects that he is receiving financial support from prominent Democrats and Republicans. Notably, Kuhn received a contribution from former Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Phillips, a Republican. Phillips recently endorsed Kuhn, as did former Supreme Court Justices Craig Enoch and Scott Brister, also Republicans.
Kuhn's opponent, repeated failed judicial candidate Melissa Goodwin raised $33, 263.16 during the last six months, bringing her total raised in the campaign to $34,458.16, or roughly 1/7 of what Kuhn has raised. Her cash on hand as of June 30 is $8,582.26, giving Kuhn a cash advantage of nearly 15 to 1.
Texans for Public Justice has filed an ethics complaint alleging Melissa Goodwin may have violated state election laws by accepting political contributions that exceeded campaign limits.
Texas' judicial campaign laws restricted Goodwin's campaign to taking no more than $5,000 from a single donor during the recent Republican Primary. Yet Goodwin's campaign reported that it accepted a total of $25,274 from Bob and Paca Goodwin of Marble Falls, Texas, exceeding the limit by $20,274.
The apparently illegal contributions may have shaped the outcome of the race for an open seat on the Austin-based 3rd Court of Appeals. Goodwin won 53 percent of the vote on March 2, defeating opponent Scott Field (who got 47 percent). The disputed $20,274 accounts for 42 percent of Goodwin's total primary expenditures ($48,587)--including the $34,400 in media buys that she initiated on February 12, 2010.
The Judicial Campaign Fairness Act limits 3rd Court of Appeals candidates from taking an aggregate of more than $5,000 in contributions from individual donors during the primary. The law defines loans from individuals as campaign contributions subject to these limits (bank loans are treated differently). The Goodwin campaign reported that it received a $25,000 loan from Bob and Paca Goodwin on January 21, 2010. Goodwin's campaign then reported receiving a $274.26 in-kind contribution from the same source on February 12, 2010. Bob and Paca Goodwin's total contributions to Melissa Goodwin's primary campaign appear to have exceeded the legal limit by $20,274.26.
Goodwin ran against Jim Coronado in 2008 in the 427th District Court in 2008 and lost handily. After voters in Travis County made a resounding statement that they do not want Goodwin to serve as their judge, she decided to run for a promotion. She is running against Kurt "Best Qualified" Kuhn (his campaign can be found here).
Kurt Kuhn, presumptive Democratic nominee for the 3rd Court of Appeals, Place 4, has released his most recent campaign finance report showing that his campaign has now raised over $120,000 since filing.
On the Texas Ethics Commission report filed yesterday by his campaign, Kuhn showed $56,956.58 raised over the past six months, bringing his overall haul to $120,149.98.
"I am humbled by the support and encouragement that I have received from so many people across the district, and from leading attorneys statewide," stated Kuhn. Over the past six months, the Kuhn campaign received 204 donations from 183 individual donors, for an average of $279 per contribution. Overall, Kuhn has received support from 402 donors throughout his campaign.
Given some of the comments in my post earlier this morning about the 201st District Court race between sitting 3rd Court of Appeals Judge Jan Patterson and Amy Clark Meachum, it appears I need to write a follow up post in order to explain a couple of timeline and process points.
The first point is a timing question with regard to vacancies, seeking other seats, etc. Here are the basic points to remember- all of which are based on fact.
Jan Patterson's 3rd Court of Appeals, Place 4 seat is the only 3rd Court seat that is on the ballot in 2010. This seat was scheduled to be up for election this year regardless of whether Judge Patterson chose to run for re-election or not.
As early as December of 2008, right after the presidential election, Jan Patterson had made it known she was planning to finish her term on the 3rd Court of Appeals (not resign) and run in the 2010 primary for the 201st District Court which was going to be an open seat with Judge Covington's planned retirement. As such, Kurt Kuhn was to (and did) become the Democratic nominee for Patterson's Place 4 seat for the same scheduled 2010 election.
In July of 2009, after the death of 353rd District Court Judge Scott Ozmun in May of 2009, Jan Patterson actively sought appointment by Gov. Rick Perry to the 353rd District Court. At the time of this request, she was still serving as the sitting judge for the 3rd Court of Appeals and was an unopposed candidate for the 201st District Court.
Jan Patterson would have had to resign her 3rd Court of Appeals seat mid-term to accept Perry's appointment to the 353rd vacancy. This would have created a vacancy for her Place 4 seat.
While this next point is based on a hypothetical, it is more than reasonable to argue that Gov. Perry would then appoint a Republican to fill Patterson's unexpired Place 4 term whom Kurt Kuhn would face in the general election assuming Perry's Republican appointee won the GOP primary. It very well could have been Melissa Goodwin, who is currently one of two Republicans seeking to be the GOP nominee against Kuhn and whom Perry has appointed to fill vacancies in Travis County before (the 427th District Court where she was defeated in 2008 by Jim Coronado).
Beyond this point, we can argue about whether Perry would have actually appointed someone to fill Patterson's 3rd Court of Appeals seat and if they would have been a Republican. I think the answer to that is certainly yes (he would have) and yes (it would have been a Republican).
So assuming that, we'd have had a 4-2 GOP controlled 3rd Court of Appeals from (best guess) October of 2009 and through the 2010 election- over a year. That's a long time for the GOP appointee to also use that power of incumbency against Kurt Kuhn.
And why is that relevant if there was a GOP incumbent instead of an open seat? Because the 3rd Court of Appeals district is the most evenly drawn district in the entire state and every sitting judge on the 3rd Court today, regardless of party, has been elected by less than 52.5% of the vote.
Look at the numbers below- the winners are bolded.
2008-
Chief Justice, 3rd Court of Appeals District
Ken Law(I) REP 407,243 47.59%
Woodie Jones DEM 448,373 52.40%
2006-
Justice, 3rd Court of Appeals District, Place 2
Alan Waldrop(I) REP 248,966 51.30% Jim Sybert Coronado DEM 236,314 48.69%
Justice, 3rd Court of Appeals District, Place 3
Will Wilson REP 241,811 49.52%
Diane Henson DEM 246,411 50.47%
Justice, 3rd Court of Appeals District, Place 5
David Puryear(I) REP 256,044 52.26% Mina A. Brees DEM 233,876 47.73%
Justice, 3rd Court of Appeals District, Place 6
Bob Pemberton(I) REP 250,657 51.24% Bree Buchanan DEM 238,491 48.75%
2004-
Justice, 3rd Court of Appeals District, Place 4
Bill Green REP 361,904 48.19%
Jan Patterson(I) DEM 389,064 51.80%
Justice, 3rd Court of Appeals District, Place 6 (Unexpired)
Bob Pemberton(I) REP 386,274 51.55% Diane Henson DEM 362,955 48.44%
And remember, the 3rd Court of Appeals covers 24 counties many of which are not friendly at all. Here's the map.
These elections are heavily dependent on a lot of work by the candidate to work the mid-tier counties and convince swing voters with local endorsements. And one of the most important keys is having a good relationship with and supporting the Democratic Coordinated Campaigns in Travis County which is the single largest source of votes no matter how you slice it.
In Patterson's 2004 race, Travis County was responsible for 208,806 of her 389,064 total Democratic votes.
In the four 3rd Court of Appeals seats on the ballot in 2006, the votes from Travis County ranges from a low of 127,655 for Mina Brees to 134,176 for Diane Henson. Of those four candidates, only Henson won. But if you analyze the Travis County difference between Henson's vote and that of the three losing Democrats, it's interesting.
The Travis County drop off of 2,052 votes for Coronado from Henson's Travis Democratic total makes up only 32% of the votes he needed to flip across the district to win. For Buchanan, her Travis County Democratic difference of 3,127 votes from Henson was 51% of the total votes she need to flip to win. For Brees, the 6,521 Democratic decline from Henson's number was a stunning 59% of the vote she needed to flip across those 24 counties to win.
This is all to say that any edge a candidate has can mean a great deal to win over those critical few thousand votes out of a half million that will get cast this year. Money matters. Name ID matters. Incumbency matters- all you have to do is look at the election results above to see the power of that.
I will concede that I would prefer all of these judicial races to not have to be partisan elections (or even elections at all), partly because it can lead to technical, procedural, and partisan discussions like this! But this is the system we have, and it's entirely reasonable for Democrats to consider these facts in making their decision as to whom they will support in the 201st District Court race. I think it's fair to consider the higher value and importance of maintaining balance on the 3rd Court of Appeals, the most important appeals court in the state- due to it receiving all of the appeals from Travis County (think Public Integrity Unit from the Travis County District Attorney's office, Tom DeLay, and state lawsuits involving the environment, education, energy, and public corruption).
I hope this has clarified and provided some background for readers as to why this issue has been brought up and is important to many activists and attorneys.
In a report filed with the Texas Ethics Commission this week, Democratic candidate Kurt Kuhn reported that he raised $63,193.00 in contributions during the last three weeks of June. He is running to fill the seat held by Democrat Jan Patterson who will be leaving her bench to run for a District Court in Travis County.
Kuhn's fundraising figure exceeds all previous fund-raising by any non-incumbent candidate for the Third Court during a comparable time period and was exceeded by only one incumbent, Republican Robert Pemberton, who was in the unusual position of having to run in back-to-back elections in 2004 and 2006.
"The July 15th report is traditionally the best early indicator of who is a serious candidate and who is not," said Democratic political consultant Alfred Stanley, an advisor to the Kuhn campaign. "Kurt was in our office making calls just about every weekday during the last three weeks in June, and he is absolutely committed to exceeding all previous efforts to campaign for and win a position on the Third Court."
Candidates for the 3rd court cannot begin legally raising money until June the year prior to the election so this is quite an impressive and necessary haul for Democrat's efforts to hold on to the Democratic seat on the court which is currently 3-3 and covers 24 counties.
The Third Court of Appeals serves 24 counties, including Travis County. Because the state capitol is within its jurisdiction, the Third Court issues more opinions concerning state agencies and state government than any other appellate court. The six-member court is now evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, none of whom was elected with more than 52.4% of the vote. The district covers 22,543 square miles-bigger than nine states-adding to the challenge of campaigning for this bench.
A scary story is unfolding about our courts. According to Statesman 3rd Court of Appeals Justice Jan Patterson who says Chief Justice Ken Law refuse to let her file a dissent in a politically charged case involving two associates of former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.
Justice Jan Patterson, a Democrat, is asking the Texas Supreme Court to intervene. She claims that Law, a Republican who's up for re-election, blocked the filing of her dissent to last week's ruling on whether fellow Justice Alan Waldrop, also a Republican, should step aside in the money-laundering case involving DeLay's associates.
In addition to the controversy swirling around the 3rd Court of Appeals, Texans for Public Justice has filed a complaint echoing Justice Patterson's sentiment.
Texans for Public Justice filed a complaint with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct today alleging that Third Court of Appeals Justice Alan Waldrop should not have written an opinion in the criminal case against Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC) because his impartiality is questionable.
"Justice Waldrop's August 22 TRMPAC opinion reads like a 'Get Out of Jail Free Card' for Tom DeLay and his cronies," said Texans for Public Justice Director Craig McDonald. "As counsel for Texans for Lawsuit Reform in related civil litigation, Waldrop announced his bias in this matter years ago, dismissing the civil suit as 'politically motivated.' Waldrop should not have participated in this case."
The infighting in the 3rd Court is apparent. The Republicans seem to be shielding their friends and allies, while the Democrats appear to want justice. Democrat Diane Henson went so far as to ask for a full rehearing on the case. An unprecedented move in any circumstances.
Every day it becomes more and more clear why we need Woodie Jones on the bench. Luckily he is taking on Ken Law, and we can remedy these problems once and for all.
Pemberton’s new ad erroneously claims that the facts Bree Buchanan uncovered in her ad about the 3rd Court’s poor work ethic are unfounded. The statistics come directly from the non-partisan Office of Court Administration.
Let’s review:
In 2006, this court was the slowest of all appellate courts. The time taken by these justices to issue an opinion (4.7 months) exceeded all other courts of appeal in Texas.
Cases outsourced to other courts for a decision were the highest (102), despite a decline in new cases filed.
Cases pending for more than 12 months have grown from 4% of the docket in 2002 to 26% in the most recent fiscal year.
Central Texans deserve better from their elected public servants. Please encourage your friends, family and everyone you know to vote for a change. Vote for Bree Buchanan.
Mina Brees, Democratic nominee for the 3rd Court of Appeals, Place 5 which includes Travis and 23 other counties, suffered a heart attack earlier this week as became known this afternoon. She survived the incident and in the care of her doctors is expected to make a full recovery (deeply saddening Tom DeLay who would like to keep the 3rd Court of Appeals from becoming more Democratic and less likely to play his games). The TDP released a statement late today.
A statement from Texas Democratic Party Chair Boyd Richie regarding the medical condition of Mina Brees:
"I am deeply saddened to hear that Mina Brees, Democratic Candidate for the Third Court of Appeals, suffered a heart attack this past weekend at her home in Austin. I am encouraged to hear that her doctor expects a full recovery. Our thoughts and prayers are with her and her family during this time. I pray that her recovery is swift and complete and I look forward to campaigning alongside with her as soon as she has fully recovered."
We here at BOR wish Mina Brees a speedy and full recovery and hope that our readers, while unable to do anything directly for her, could at the very least go to her website and sign up for updates or to volunteer or give in some way in place of flowers. Prayers, of course, are always accepted.
Update: Brees' fellow Democrat Bree Buchanan, running for the same court but in Place 6, has left a comment to this post with an update on Mina's condition (which is positive). Check it out.
Prominent Republicans hosted a fundraiser last week for 
