Ken Herman down at the Austin American Statesman has this kiss of a piece on Texas Supreme Court Justice Dale Wainwright. It’s well written, with lots of statements from Herman that Wainwright is not formally a candidate for anything (you’ll have to read the piece to see why that’s important). Herman lays out that there are a slew of politicians in Texas waiting for Kay Bailey Hutchison to decide if she’s going to resign or not as part of her primary run for governor of Texas – and one of the new names included is Wainwright. Herman even comes up with a novel strategy on who should be chosen to replace Senator Hutchison.
Under most versions of the trickle-down impact, GOP Attorney General Greg Abbott winds up running for something else. And that means there may be no Republican more eager for Hutchison to get on with getting out of the Senate than Texas Supreme Court Justice Dale Wainwright, who is considering running for attorney general if Abbott seeks a new job.
Unlike others looking at that race, Wainwright has to be very, very careful about what he says about it. Canon 5 of the the state’s Code of Judicial Conduct — Refraining from Inappropriate Political Activity — says “A judge shall resign from judicial office upon becoming a candidate in a contested election for a non-judicial office … ”
Judges are the only elected officials in Texas who have to quit to run for something else. Everyone else is canon-free. That would include Republican Ted Cruz, who has declared for attorney general (but only if Abbott does not seek re-election) and state Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, who is looking at the race.
That leaves Wainwright, re-elected last year to a six-year term on the high court, dancing as close to a candidacy as possible without saying or doing anything that would force him to resign.
“I am seriously considering seeking the attorney general’s office if it’s open, that is if General Abbott vacates it,” he told me this week.
Read the rest and see what Ken’s grand plan on Senator Hutchison’s replace really is all about.