Republican Joe Pool, Jr. is seeking election to the TexasSupremeCourt; however, instead of campaigning, he went to the courts seeking to have his Republican opponent removed as a choice forTexas voters on the ballot. The Texas Supreme Court ruled against him on Friday.
Pool was seeking to have Texas Supreme CourtJustice Jeff Brown’s name thrown off of the ballot for a number ofallegedtechnicalities. Pool was doing so with the help of an attorney linked to the Democratic party. A district court judge inAustin, Texas disagreed with Pool and ruled against him. Pool unsuccessfully appealed that decision to the Texas Supreme Court.
On January 6, 2014, 201st State District Court JudgeAmy Clark Meachum blocked Pool’s request for a temporary injunction tokeep Brown off the ballot, according to a report in the Austin American-Statesman. Pool hired a Democrat party-tied lawyer namedBuck Wood to help in his legal endeavor. Wood previously tried to aid Democrat Chris Bell sue his way to victory after Bell’s failedattempt at the ballot box to take the Texas governorship from Republican Rick Perry in 2006.
Pool filed an appeal of Judge Meachum’s decision to theTexas Supreme Court, the very court he seeks to be elected to, according to a report in the Houston Chronicle. In the meantime, legal bills were mounting for the Republican Party of Texas (RPT), which will haveits hands full this fall battling Democrats and Battleground Texas.RPT Chairman Steve Munisteri told the Houston Chronicle that heestimates the cost of the court battle at around $25,000. Hesaid this is certainly money the party could better use later to supportRepublican candidates.
Pool and his lawyer claim Brown’spetitions should not be counted. Specifically, they claim that some were not properly dated and others were notarized by anotary whose commission had expired. RPT Chairman Munisteri respondedto the Houston Chronicle that there is not a requirement in the law forthe petitions to include the dates that Pool cites in the lawsuit.Further, he claims there is a reasonable explanation for the improperdate.
It is the RPT’s position that the Brown campaign has enough validsignatures and that even if it did not, the party told Brown that he did;therefore, under the law, Brown should be able to correct such aproblem if it exists.
This is not Pool’s first run for the Texas Supreme Court. In 2012,Pool failed to make the runoff in a three-way race between himself, JohnDevine, and incumbent Justice David Medina. In an interview withBreitbart News, Brown campaign spokesman Matt Mackowiak said that the2012 Republican primary was the only time Pool had even bothered to votein a Republican primary since at least 2003; this claim wasverified by Breitbart News through the Republican Party of Texas’s official voter records.
Mackowiak told the Houston Chronicle:
We know that the Poolcampaign has engaged longtime Democratic lawyer Buck Wood so he can suethe Republican Party of Texas, depriving it of time and money they couldbe spending focused on defeating Democrats and Battleground Texas.
Mackowiak added: “They now want to take an absurd legal argument, whichwas already denied once, and attempt to win an election by lawsuit – aliberal tactic. It is shameful.”
This is Pool’s second attempt in this election cycle to run for astatewide office, having failed to gain any traction in a bid forRailroad Commissioner in 2013.
Breitbart News has provided the ruling for our readers:
Texas Supreme Court Denies Joe Pool's Attempt To Remove Justice Brown From Ballet
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