Vote for Melissa Goodwin

I have been talking about the national election a lot in this blog. Today I want to talk about a local candidate who needs your support. If you don't vote in Travis County, you can skip reading the rest of this post. Melissa Goodwin is judge of the 427th District Court in Travis County. This is a new criminal court. In the short time that she has been in office she has presided over trials involving murder, offenses against children, sexual offenses, robbery, home invasions, and serious drug and property crimes. Her background has prepared her well for this position. Her background includes eight years working for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the State's highest criminal court, four years as a Justice of the Peace, three years of private practice and a stint with the General Counsel's Office of the State Bar of Texas.

Melissa is a judge with independence and integrity. While she was a Justice of the Peace, I appeared before her representing a tenant whose landlord was unfairly seeking to evict her and to charge her outrageous fees. Judge Goodwin denied the eviction despite the fact that the same landlord would no doubt appear in her court many times while she would likely never see the tenant again.

Melissa has one small handicap in her campaign to keep her job. She was appointed by Gov. Rick Perry and is a Republican. In the past, only one Republican trial judge has ever been re-elected in Travis County because of the strong Democratic presence here. It makes absolutely no sense that we elect judges in partisan elections. Whether someone is running on the Republican or Democratic ticket has very little to do with their legal training and credentials. However, that is the system that we have.

I have nothing bad to say about Judge Goodwin's opponent. He is also qualified for the job. However, I do think that once you have someone who is qualified and doing a good job that you shouldn't replace them just because they are not from the right political party. If Melissa were a Democrat running against a Republican, I would feel just as strongly about her qualifications as judge. This is an office that should not be awarded based on politics.