Criss' run for the high court

According to former Vinson & Elkins partner Barbara Ann Radnofsky, Judge Susan Criss of the 212th District Court in Galveston said on June 9 she will seek the Democratic nomination for the Texas Supreme Court Place 8 seat. The seat is currently held by Justice Phil Johnson. Gov. Rick Perry appointed him to the court in May 2005. Criss confirmed her candidacy while attending a book signing at the Houston home of Radnofsky, a Democrat who made an unsuccessful run for U.S. Senate in 2006. Radnofsky says she put Criss on the spot at the event, where a number of prominent Texas Democrats were in attendance, and asked her if she will indeed seek the Supreme Court seat. “She said she was running,” Radnofsky says, adding that Criss’ father, Lloyd Criss, chairman of the Galveston County Democratic Party, was at the book signing, along with Congressman Nick Lampson, and other Democrats. The author was Melinda Henneberger, who wrote, “If They Only Listened to Us: What Women Voters Want Politicians to Hear.” Worthy of note: Criss has a blog called As the Island Floats. Radnofsky, who now does occasional mediation and arbitration, says she is considering running for Texas attorney general in 2010.
-- Brenda Sapino Jeffreys