Photo: Getty Images / Arturo Holmes
Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee is officially running for Congress to replace the late Sylvester Turner in CD-18. State law requires that he resign his position as county attorney, but thanks to a loophole in the law, he's still serving right now.
Because the Harris County Commissioners Court still hasn't appointed his replacement, he's allowed to continue working as the county attorney. According to reports, he's expected to hold on to that position until after the November election.
Jared Woodfill, the former Harris County GOP chairman and founder of Conservative Republicans of Texas, is calling out the Democrat-run Commissioners Court for this, saying, "Democrats on Commissioners Court are allowing this to happen. They could easily appoint someone to take that position, but that's not what they want."
He went on to say that this is a deliberate effort by both Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis and other Democratic commissioners to maintain control of the County Attorney's Office. He said, "They want to keep him (Menefee) there and get the rulings they want and the assistance they need from a friendly county attorney."
Of course, the consequence of all this is that Harris County taxpayers are funding Menefee's congressional run. Woodfill explained, "We're paying for his salary, we're paying for his benefits, and the majority of his time is spent campaigning for Congressional District 18."
Woodfill estimates that 80-90% of any political candidate's time is spent campaigning, meaning he can't possibly be effectively serving as county attorney at the same time.