Court gets election dispute


The Texas Supreme Court will hear arguments from two appeals court candidates who were removed from the GOP primary ballot after challenges by rival Terry Keel, an Austin Republican.

Wednesday's order gives new life to the campaign of Court of Criminal Appeals incumbent Charles Holcomb, whose request for a hearing had been denied by the Supreme Court on Tuesday. That reversal came without a motion to reconsider by Holcomb.

Holcomb was taken off the ballot after several petition signatures were found to be duplicates.

The court also will hear arguments, at 9 a.m. Tuesday, from Dallas District Judge Robert Francis, who was removed from the March 7 primary ballot because a dozen of his petition forms failed to specify that he is seeking Place 8 on the state's highest criminal court.

Efforts by Francis and Holcomb to return to the ballot had been rejected by a Travis County district court and the 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin.

So the Supreme Court conditionally granted the relief sought by Judges Holcomb and Francis. Does this mean the State Bar will correct the list of candidates in the Judicial Poll?

Since the voting has already started (with the incomplete list) I would have to say the results would be unreliable in any event.

As I understand the process, Keel was the one who "turned in" Judges Holcomb and Francis. Now that the judges are back in the running, will Keel's actions make a difference in the coming election?