Hey, you - wanna run for judge?

The following is an announcement from the Harris County Democratic Party.

The Judicial Candidates Committee of the Harris County Democratic Party will begin interviewing prospective candidates for judicial office for the 2010 General Election on March 2. Interviews will be scheduled for 7:30 a.m., 8:15 a.m., 5:30 p.m., and 6:15 p.m. for most Mondays through Thursdays from March 2 thru April 16, and last approximately 45 minutes each.

If you are interested in seeking judicial office as a Democrat in 2010, you need to contact the Harris County Democratic Party at candidates@hcdp.org as soon as possible to arrange an interview with the committee. While neither the committee nor the Harris County Democratic Party endorses candidates in the primary, it is imperative that each person who thinks he or she may be interested in running for judicial office meet with the committee within the next six weeks to discuss important matters relating to that potential candidacy, including the candidate's qualifications for office, the party's plans for the coordinated campaign for the November 2010 general election, and the candidates' roles in the coordinated campaign.

The committee will also be glad to answer prospective candidates' questions about running for judicial office at the time of the interview.

So, if you are interested in running for a judicial office in 2010, please send an e-mail to candidates@hcdp.org, including your contact information, a generic description of the type of court for which you are interested in running (civil, criminal, district, county court at law, probate, juvenile, family, court of appeals, JP; it is not necessary that you identify a particular bench at this time), a current resume and the times and dates you would be available to be interviewed. Your response should indicate several available interview times and dates.

For a complete list of the 73 judicial offices which are currently known to be will be on the ballot in Harris County in 2010 (not counting Texas Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals) and the current officeholder of each such bench, you can visit http://www.hcdp.org/upcoming_elections.html.

Contact the Harris County Democratic Party at candidates@hcdp.org or 713-802-0085 if you have any questions about this process.

I suspect there will be a lot of interest, and thus a lot of contested primaries. And that's a very good thing, as I hope we learned from last year's experience. It will also mean hopefuls will start working on their campaigns early. Some of them already are - I've signed a ballot petition for one, and joined a Facebook group for another. I just hope we get a similar level of interest for the appellate and statewide positions.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on February 23, 2009 to Election 2010