Last weekend, County Judge Joe Portillo said he was interviewing a handful of people to replace Precinct 4 County Commissioner David Beebe—who inadvertently resigned after announcing his candidacy too early for county judge for the Democratic Party Primary in March, likely against Portillo. The judge said on October 4 he knew of interested candidates and wanted to give them a voice on how they could serve the county.
Per the Texas Constitution, county officials who announce their candidacy for another office more than one year and thirty days from the end of their term are subject to the “resign-to-run” law, which states: “Such announcement or such candidacy shall constitute an automatic resignation of the office then held.”
Beebe would have had to announce his candidacy in early December to be clear of the prohibition, and said he didn’t know about it when deciding to announce two weeks ago. However, case law shows that an Aransas County attorney in a similar situation was allowed to follow a “hold over” state law, meaning they could stay in their seat as long as the county judge or commissioners court did not replace them.
Beebe’s sometimes-ally on the Commissioners Court, Precinct 1 Commissioner Deirdre Hisler, and friends of Beebe’s lobbied the judge to let Beebe stay because of his extensive experience serving and following county government. But the judge said Saturday he knew of interested candidates and wanted to give them a voice on how they could serve.
On Friday, Portillo ignored the advice of Hisler and others and made a decision, appointing Frank “Buddy” Knight, a veteran of Marfa and county politics who previously served as a commissioner and Marfa ISD School Board member. Beebe had beaten Knight in the 2022 Democratic Primary to take his commissioner post.
Contacted Saturday, Knight said he did not go to the judge about being appointed, but had talked with some friends about the idea. When the judge came to him, Knight met with him to discuss the position. After some “soul searching” he decided to take the offer. “What I care about is Presidio County and Precinct 4,” he said. “At this point in time, maybe I can help for a bit. I have some ideas I’m working on, and I appreciate that Mr. Beebe had some things he was working on.”
Beebe previously stated that he would stay in his seat until told to leave, meaning an appointment of someone else, and regardless of what happened, he would sit in on court meetings and assist the county however he could.
“In 2022, voters had a choice between David Beebe and Buddy Knight and they resoundingly chose Beebe,” David Beebe and his wife Hilary wrote in a statement Monday. “On Friday, over the objections of constituents and other commissioners and without so much as the courtesy of a call, the judge took this unnecessary action because that is the kind of small, self-serving guy he is.”
Portillo said Monday that he looked at the situation from a simple view of following the law while also protecting the county because the automatic resignation provision under the Constitution is clear. “It doesn’t make provisions,” he said. “It doesn’t talk about specific instances. It just says it’s an automatic resignation. So, under the law, [the seat] had to be filled.”
Portillo said he was aware of the court case—Bianchi v. State of Texas—that allowed a county official to remain in office because the county judge and commissioners court did not replace him. The county’s defense in allowing his hold over to continue was based in part on an Attorney General’s Office opinion. But Portillo said each case “is going to have different sets of facts and circumstances” that could result in a different opinion or court ruling. The judge also cautioned that not filling the seat could open the county up to a similar lawsuit over the validity of Beebe remaining and of any votes he cast.
In the Bianchi case, it was clear that the county judge and all commissioners were in agreement to keep the resigned county attorney—Richard Bianchi—in his position. The opposition to the hold over came from the local district attorney. In Beebe’s case, he had the support of Commissioners Deirdre Hisler and Franky Ortiz to remain on the court, according to their statements to Big Bend Sentinel. Commissioner Margarito Hernandez did not return a request for comment, and Portillo made his opinion clear on the need to replace Beebe.
Knight’s appointed term will end December 31, 2026. Knight, who served in the seat from 2018 to 2022 before being defeated by Beebe in the Democratic Primary, said emphatically that he is not interested in running for the seat in March. (Presidio County is a bit of an outlier in Texas politics and is solidly Democratic. Thus, a win in the Democratic Primary in March would make a candidate the shoo-in for the November election.)
“The good news is there is another election coming and Beebe is offering a change,” the Beebes stated. “But if the voters say no thanks, we’ll take four more years of this—he will concede as a gentleman should and we’ll happily move on. Until the people weigh in, Beebe’s going to keep right on doing what he’s been doing—showing up for Presidio County every single day and striving to do better.”
Correction: The original, online posting of this story stated that Knight was not available for comment because of an afternoon relaxation ritual. That text message comment was not from Knight and was from someone impersonating him. We will be frank. The Sentinel was pranked. Included in this update are actual comments from Knight.