This gives the Texas Governor the opportunity to fill the vacated seat. As we will discuss in Texas government, while judges are elected in Texas, it is customary for them to resign early, which gives the governor the opportunity to handpick the successor, who then gets to run for re-election as an incumbent. They are rarely denied re-election. This is an example about how constitutional processes in the state can be avoided.
From the story: Texas Supreme Court Justice Dale Wainwright is resigning at the end of the month to join an Austin law firm, the court announced Wednesday. Wainwright joined the court in January 2003 and ranks third in seniority among the nine justices. Gov. Rick Perry
will appoint a replacement who'll be on the ballot in 2014; it's
apparently too close to the November election to name a replacement in
time to get on this year's ballot.
