Tuesday, November 8, 2016

2016 Election Post-Mortem

I think it is safe to say that almost everyone who practices within the Harris County Criminal Justice System is disappointed in at least some element of how the 2016 election turned out this year.

For some time now, we've known that a Democratic sweep was a very real possibility, but I don't know that any of us realized what a tremendous margin was coming.  When you lose judges like Kristin Guiney, Ryan Patrick, Stacey Bond, and Brock Thomas, it becomes pretty clear that our little world is ultimately controlled by voters who know nothing of the judges' reputations or what they've done to make this System better.

Devon Anderson's loss was a foregone conclusion.  Even if she had been in the good graces of the Republican Party, it wouldn't have saved her from the ultimate outcome of what happened tonight.

The straight ticket voters who pulled the Democratic lever (as of this writing) outnumbered the Republican straight ticket voters by over 65,000 votes.

Once again, we are sadly reminded that partisan politics have absolutely no place in the Criminal Justice System.  

My personal belief is that a backlash against Donald Trump is what sunk Republicans in Harris County.  The irony (as of this writing) is that it appears he's going to succeed in his race, while he left a trail of destruction in Harris County.

I would say that I'm stunned, but this is a repeat of 2008 -- just with more dramatic margins.  The more interesting analysis will be whether or not Harris County voting blue is a permanent thing.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

If only lawyers had political power to do something about removing politics from judicial races. Poor judges and ADAs. So delicate.

Thomas Hobbes said...

Maybe not a permanent thing, but I wouldn't count on a repeat of the 2012 election that returned ousted Republicans to office. Just as Clinton brought out the Democratic vote this year, Trump likely will bring out the Democratic vote in 2020.

Anonymous said...

Word is that Lykos already told Ogg her biggest mistake was not getting rid of more people at the top when she came in in '08. As usual, Lykos is too stupid to realize what her real problems were.

Anonymous said...

The return of Randy Roll...OMG

Anonymous said...

Roll for Guiney is a crime in and of itself

Anonymous said...

I agree with Anonymous 12:51 The return of Randy Roll OMG. I was saddened by the results of this election. It pains me to see so many good judges gone. I hate that Devon lost her seat. I just hope that Ogg is nothing like Lykos.

Anonymous said...

Please explain what will now happen w/ the David Temple retrial.

Anonymous said...

Hooper says that the governor chose Devon for DA over another after Mike died. Anyone know who else applied for the appointment?

Episode Seven: The Voters Awaken - A One Act -Sci-Fi Play

SCENE:  The Death Star orbits over Downtown Houston. [INTERIOR] The Imperial Council Chambers. EMPRESS OGG sits at the head of a long table ...