By Chris Moore

chris.moore@panews.com

 

County Judge Jeff Branick asked Precinct 1 Constable Charlie Wiggins to step down after Wiggins said he wanted to run for election in November.

Wiggins was appointed in July on the condition that he would not run for election in November. Wiggins now plans to run on the Republican ticket.

The Jefferson County commissioners split 3-2 on a vote to appoint Wiggins in July after Earl White left to become Beaumont fire chief.

Precinct 86 chairman for the Jefferson County Republican Party Mike Getz said the circumstances around Wiggins’ appointment changed.

“There was a candidate for the Jefferson County Democratic Party that was selected to run for that office and was told to the Republican Party,” Getz said. “It was someone well-qualified and well experienced. Frankly, the Republican Party had no issues with the candidate. We met and we decided not to oppose that particular candidate for that office.”

Getz said the Democrats could have had a pass for that office had they stuck to that particular candidate.

“That’s not what happened,” Getz said. “At the last minute, right before the filing deadline, the Republican Party learned that someone else is going to be running for that position as a Democrat, someone that we did not feel had the experience.”

Getz said that is when Republicans reached out to Wiggins about running.

Jefferson Democratic Party Chairman Cade Bernsen said no secret deal was struck.

“This is not ‘Let’s Make a Deal’,” Bernsen said. “The Democratic Party gets to make their own selections. Whoever has the power, which is the Republicans at this point, cannot and should not have the power if someone dies or resigns. There is a reason, I imagine that (Precinct 1) Commissioner (Eddie) Arnold put that stipulation on the record. No one asked him to. It was that he would not seek re-election. It wasn’t “If he likes who the Democrats select.

“I have a feeling it was made so that one party cannot give their party an unfair advantage in a race. That’s especially important in this case because no Republican has ever held this position.”

Wiggins said he decided to run because the circumstances of his appointment changed. A few minutes into reading a prewritten statement, County Judge Jeff Branick stopped Wiggins, who began to explain why he switched parties years ago.

“I don’t want this to get into talking about both of the parties,” Branick said. “This is only about your appointment.”

Precinct 4 Commissioner Everette “Bo” Alfred said that the decision is based on precedent.

“Every time we make an appointment, one of us asks, whoever that may be, that we are appointing them with the knowledge that they will not run — and you answered that question.”

Branick asked Wiggins to step down until the voters had a chance to make a selection.

“I do believe the best step to protect the integrity of the process is to step down,” Branick said. “I don’t think it’s the best thing for your office. I know it will cause problems and I know it will hurt you financially. I don’t think we can engage in semantics to try and justify things that don’t seem to pass the smell test.”