But as a member of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, he won't be ruling on tax law. Instead, he'll be one of nine judges on the state court of last resort for the appeals of criminal cases, one that automatically reviews all death-penalty sentences in Texas.
In arguing that he's actually qualified for the post, Mansfield claims to find precedents on the U.S. Supreme Court, a much different jurisdictional animal than the statewide appeals court. "Just like when Hugo Black was put on the court, as well as Clarence Thomas, neither of them had any criminal experience to speak of," Mansfield says, "and I think both of them are doing a good job. I can do the work and am looking forward to the work, and doing whatever it takes, whatever hours are necessary to doing the work, and doing it properly."
Hugo Black, of course, has long been dead.
Mansfield's victory over incumbent Democrat Charles Campbell certainly proves that in Texas judicial races, anything is possible during a partisan landslide. He spent approximately $7,000, not counting the $3,000 filing fee, for a statewide campaign when other candidates for the Texas Supreme Court, the civil version of the Court of Criminal Appeals, poured a total of more than $7 million into their campaigns.
"I have no advertising at all, TV radio or print," he says. "I ran off about 50,000 push cards, which I think ran me altogether about $1,500. And the rest of it, frankly, was on gas and Motel 6's. I put in 53,000 miles campaigning around the state. I visited 90 counties, every city in the state over 100,000 at least once, and many multiple times, including El Paso. So basically it was rental cars, gas, motel bills. That's what I spent my money on."
Despite that effort, it's unlikely that more than a few voters still knew anything at all about Mansfield when they went to the polls, other than noticing his Anglo-Saxon surname and party affiliation. But he, naturally, rejects the notion that he's just flotsam swept into high office in the Republican tide.
"I don't know what impact the Republican sweep had, because, remember, Kay Bailey Hutchison had 62 percent, George W. [Bush] had 55 percent, but right below them was [Democrat] Bob Bullock with 62 percent and Dan Morales [with 54 percent]. One of the first things I'm going to do is get a printout of all my votes in the various counties in the state. I'm a statistics junkie. I'd like to see how I did in the various counties 'cause then I can correlate it with where I spent the most time and how I did."
Meantime, Austin-area women interested in this electoral phenomenon might want to start scanning the personals for a notice modeled on Mansfield's Greensheet posting:
"Divorced white male appeals court judge, former pro football player, wants to meet nice black lady. You should be 26-32, enjoy seafood and romantic good times with a guy who will reciprocate well. Call me.
