Christian Menefee
Harris County Commissioners have opted to keep Christian Menefee as the county attorney until Gov. Greg Abbott calls an election to fill the late U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner’s seat in Congress.
Menefee has served as county attorney for more than four years, and recently announced a campaign to replace Turner, who died March 5 following “enduring health complications” at 70 years old.
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Under state law, Menefee’s campaign filing and announcement triggered his automatic resignation from his position as county attorney.
“Resign to run” laws in Texas dictate that certain local office holders cannot announce campaigns for another seat more than a year and 30 days before the next election. If they announce any sooner, they’re forced to step back from their current position.
Menefee, who recently won another term as county attorney, filed for Congress hours after Turner’s funeral.
However, another law holds that the person is allowed to hold their position until a successor is named. Abbott’s office hasn’t yet called an election to replace Turner, who represented a solidly Democratic congressional district.
The absence of a representative in the seat effectively leaves the Democrats shorthanded. Republicans currently hold the majority in the U.S. House by a slim margin.
Donna Davidson, a legislative and campaign lawyer based in Austin, said she has seen instances where office holders announce a campaign for another position and are replaced immediately. Others, however, have been allowed to stick around, she said.
“It really just depends,” Davidson said. “Let’s say you’ve been a very effective county attorney. They don’t necessarily want to make a change if they don’t have to.”
The commissioners, who are in charge of naming Menefee’s replacement until an election is called, decided on Thursday to not take action to replace him given the disruption choosing a new county attorney might cause.
See here and here for the background. If the law doesn’t require Menefee to step down and be replaced right now, then this is the sensible thing to do. If Abbott’s in no rush to schedule the election, then Menefee doesn’t need to be in any rush to resign. Once the election is on the calendar, then he and the Court can do their thing. I suppose it’s possible someone could sue to force him to resign now, but I’m not sure who would have standing, let alone that there’s a good legal argument to be made. So, barring anything unexpected, this is where we are for now.