Mike O'Connell, Apointed County Attorney; Jefferson Co. Republican Chair., Brad Cummings, Decries Mayor Jerry Abramson's "Croynism" & "Anti-Choice".

Read more from the C-J, or this excerpt below:

Former Jefferson Circuit Judge Mike O'Connell was appointed Jefferson County attorney yesterday by Louisville Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson.

O'Connell took office immediately, filling the vacancy created Thursday when Irv Maze, who had been county attorney for nearly a decade, was named a Jefferson circuit judge by Gov. Steve Beshear.

O'Connell, a Democrat, became only the fourth man to hold the job of county attorney in the last 40 years, following long tenures by J. Bruce Miller, Mike Conliffe and Maze. ...

If Abramson had appointed a new county attorney on or before Tuesday, under state law, the Jefferson Democratic and Republican executive committees would have nominated candidates for county attorney to face each other on the November ballot, with the winner serving the last two years of the term.

But with the appointment coming yesterday, O'Connell avoids having to face election this November.

Brad Cummings, the Jefferson Republican chairman, criticized the timing, accusing Abramson of waiting just long enough so he could appoint "one of his cronies" and avoid "giving the people a choice" in voting for county attorney in November.

"There is no doubt this was orchestrated" by the Democrats, Cummings said. "When given the option of either allowing the people to choose or making decisions behind closed doors, Jerry always goes with his own self-interest."

He said Abramson "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."

O'Connell said he wasn't an Abramson "crony."

And Abramson said he couldn't fill the position until he was officially notified Thursday by the governor's office of Maze's resignation as county attorney and appointment as a circuit judge.

Knowing that Maze had applied for the circuit court vacancy over a month ago, Abramson acknowledged that he had "done his homework" and in recent weeks had discussed the county attorney's job with O'Connell and several other potential appointees.

Jay Blanton, Beshear's spokesman, said the governor gave no consideration to politics or to timing in naming Maze a circuit judge.

"Our only consideration was the appointment of a quality person," Blanton said.

Editor's comment: *AHEM*.

That was a cough, by the way.

BTW, you can also check out Mark Hebert's Abramson Plays Dumb on Timing of Maze's Appointment