Buddy Garcia, a former aide to Gov. Rick Perry who has been serving on the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, will take the empty seat at the Texas Railroad Commission until a new commissioner is chosen in the elections. Perry could have waited until after the May primaries (0r the July runoffs) and named the winner of the GOP contest between Warren Chisum, Christi Craddick, Roland Sledge, and three others. Or he could have appointed one of them, effectively making an endorsement in that race. This appointment dodges that bullet, gives Garcia another notch on his resume, and clears the way for Perry to name someone new at TCEQ.