Opinion
08-24-00318-CV
08-26-2024
DAVID LANDERSMAN, Appellant, v. LEROY MEDLIN, Appellee.
Appeal from the 143rd District Court of Loving County, Texas (TC# 24-03-1107)
Before Alley, C.J., Palafox and Soto, JJ.
ORDER
PER CURIAM
On August 21, 2024, Appellant filed a notice of appeal from the trial court's August 16, 2024 judgment in an election contest proceeding declaring the March 5, 2024 Republican Primary Constable of Loving County election void and ordering a new election to be held.
As our sister court recognized last week in a similarly situated appeal regarding a primary run-off election contest, "[i]t is well-settled that when election contest issues cannot be heard and a final judgment adjudicating the validity or invalidity for nomination cannot be entered in time for election officials to comply with the statutory general election deadlines, the election contest becomes moot, and the issues are no longer justiciable." Trevino v. Segovia, No. 13-24-00400-CV, 2024 WL 3891950, at *3 Tex. App.-Corpus Christi-Edinburg Aug. 21, 2024) (citing Polk v. Davidson, 196 S.W.2d 632, 634 (Tex. 1946); Pena v. Hernandez, No. 13-10-00342-CV, 2010 WL 3722245, at *1 (Tex. App.-Corpus Christi-Edinburg Sept. 20, 2010, no pet.)(mem. op.) (holding the same "even when the contestant may have good cause or grounds for the contest.")). Accordingly, the proper judgment is to dismiss the appeal. Id.
In light of the present statutory general election deadlines, the parties are hereby ORDERED to address this Court's ability to address the appeal before us. Submissions from the parties in response to this Order must be filed no later than Thursday, August 29, 2024. Thereafter, should any party wish to respond to the other's submission, we ORDER the parties to file any such response no later than Friday, August 30, 2024.
No extensions will be considered.
IT IS SO ORDERED.