Arkansas had a small procedural issue this month.The governor needed to appoint a special justice to hear a Supreme Court appeal involving… the governor.
And who better to handle that responsibility than someone already firmly inside the Sarah Huckabee Sanders Universe. Let’s meet Cory Cox.
Sanders appointed Cox to the Arkansas Tech University Board of Trustees last year. He previously worked under Leslie Rutledge when she was attorney general. And according to campaign finance records, Cox and his family have been major donors and supporters in Republican politics for years.
Naturally, this is the person Sanders selected to help decide a case where Sanders herself was a defendant. The lawsuits centered on whether Sanders improperly delayed special elections for two vacant legislative seats until after the fiscal session. Courts already forced the elections to happen sooner. The elections happened. New lawmakers were sworn in. Most people moved on with their lives.
But the appeals kept going, which meant Arkansas suddenly found itself explaining why a governor appointing a political ally to hear the governor’s own appeal is technically allowed.To be fair, this is how the process works under the Arkansas Constitution.
Attorneys for the Democratic Party immediately objected, arguing maybe the governor should not handpick the judge in her own case. Another attorney raised concerns after a witness disclosed Cox had previously discussed the dispute and reportedly suggested federal court strategy before the lawsuit was filed.
The Supreme Court quietly canceled oral arguments without explanation. A justice became “temporarily unable to serve.” Nobody elaborated. And eventually the appeals themselves were dismissed altogether because the elections had already happened.