Political People and their Moves

Rep. Allan Ritter, R-Nederland, won’t be back for more. Ritter, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, has been in the House since 1999. One of his pet projects — funding for project to ensure the state’s future water supply — is on next month’s battle as a constitutional amendment.

Konni Burton was endorsed by Tarrant County Commissioner Gary Fickes; Burton is after the Republican nomination in SD-10, a spot currently held by Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth.

Davis, who is running for governor, picked up the endorsement of San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro.

Wayne Christian got a nod from Republican activist David Barton of Wallbuilders. Christian is running for railroad commissioner.

Megan LaVoie moves to a public affairs post at the state’s Office of Court Administration. She was most recently general counsel and communications director to state Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock.

Gov. Rick Perry appointed:

• State District Judge Marc Brown as justice of the 14th Court of Appeals in Houston. He’s a former Harris County prosecutor.

• Rick Kennon of Round Rock to the 368th Judicial District Court in Williamson County. Kennon is a former assistant attorney general and has been in private practice for 24 years.

• Stacey Matthews as judge of the 277th Judicial District in Williamson County. She is an assistant district attorney there and held a similar post in Harris County before that.

• Elizabeth Beach of Fort Worth as judge of Tarrant County Criminal District Court No. 1. She is a felony prosecutor in the Tarrant County district attorney’s office and a former prosecutor in Dallas County.

• Tonya Baer of Austin to the Office of Public Utility Counsel, representing residential and small business owners in utility cases. She is an attorney at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and a former staffer in the governor’s office.

• Joe Colonnetta of Dallas, David Corpus of Humble and Dolores Ramirez of San Benito to the Teacher Retirement System Board of Directors. Colonnetta is a private investor. Corpus is an executive with CommunityBank of Texas. Ramirez teaches elementary school and is past state president of the Texas Classroom Teachers Association.

• Tarrant County Clerk Mary Louise Garcia and Williamson County Tax Assessor/Collector Deborah Hunt to the Texas County & District Retirement System’s board.

Coming soon to this very space as the third editor in the three-decade history of Texas Weekly: John Reynolds, who has covered state politics and government for the Quorum Report and for the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. John is joining our parent, The Texas Tribune and will write the morning and evening Briefs there while also assuming the helm here. Sam Kinch Jr., the first editor (and co-founder, in 1984, with George Phenix and John Rogers), stayed at it until 1998, when Ross Ramsey took over. By that measure, John gets to run things, until... let’s see... 2028. Ramsey isn’t going anywhere, by the way — he’s just getting his Thursday nights back.