It sounds to me like this may already be a done deal, with the resignation of County Judge Robert Eckels to come on Thursday.

Transportation consultant and former state Rep. Ed Emmett has emerged as the Republican consensus candidate to succeed County Judge Robert Eckels if he resigns to take a private sector job.

The two Republican county commissioners and Eckels, also a Republican, say they could back Emmett, which would give him the job even if the Commissioners Court's two Democrats disagreed.

Eckels said he hopes to make a decision within a week on whether to take a new job. He just began his fourth, four-year term.

Eckels described Emmett as "the kind of guy who I would love to see come behind me."

"He's a guy who understands politics and he has stayed active in transportation," Eckels said.

Frankly, I'm disturbed by this development. That Eckels just ran for reelection last November but may resign just weeks into his new term is troubling, and feels like a fraud upon the voters of Harris County. That his potential replacement for a nearly four year term will come not from among those county-wide officeholders who have received the consent of the governed but will instead be an individual out of elective office for two decades bothers me even more.

Frankly, this situation stinks. If Eckels is to leave the office to which he was just reelected, the position needs to be filled by someone who clearly has the confidence of the voters, not Robert Eckels' buddy. Otherwise we have, at bare minimum, an appearance of impropriety, if not an actual one.

Posted by: Greg at 11:51 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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