Jefferson County GOP blasts Maze appointment as 'anti-choice'

Gov. Steve Beshear's (D-Lexington) morning appointment of Jefferson County Attorney Irv Maze to a circuit court judgeship has already provoked ire from local Republicans, given the timing of the announcement of Maze's new post.

As a new circuit court judge, Maze leaves a vacancy in the Jefferson County Attorney's office that will now be filled by an appointee selected by Metro Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson - a Democrat. If Maze's appointment had occured two days earlier, however, Tuesday's candidate filing deadline would not have passed, and a Republican entrant could have forced a special election for judicial post.

Jefferson County Republican Party Chair Brad Cummings denounced the move as manipulated to avoid the election.

"There is no doubt this was orchestrated by the Abramson and Beshear administrations and is another example of Mayor Abramson going over the heads of the voters so that he can place his cronies into office," said Cummings in a statement today. "When given the option of either allowing the people to choose or making decisions behind close doors, Jerry always goes with his own self interest."

Maze, on a ticket with current Finance Secretary Jonathan Miller, opposed Beshear in last year's Democratic gubernatorial primary before dropping out before the election and endorsing Beshear's ticket.

Cummings argued Abramson could have persuaded his fellow Democrat in Frankfort to appoint Maze earlier.

"Mayor Abramson could have pushed for this appointment to be made so that the people could have their say," said Cummings. "But Jerry would rather add the County Attorney's office to his list of Metro Government puppets. The bottom line is that when it comes to the democratic process, Mayor Abramson is anti-choice."