Beth Beskin (left) and John Barrow. (Courtesy photos)

The state Judicial Nominating Commission is soliciting nominations to fill Georgia Supreme Court Justice Keith Blackwell's seat by appointment despite two pending challenges contesting the state's decision to cancel the election while Blackwell remains in office.

On Wednesday—the same day the first of two would-be candidates for Blackwell's seat asked a Fulton County judge to reinstate the canceled election—the JNC, co-chaired by state Republican Party chief deputy general counsel and special assistant attorney general Vincent Russo, sent a letter to members of the State Bar of Georgia soliciting nominations to replace Blackwell. The bar posted the notice on its website Thursday afternoon.

The process to replace Blackwell, who announced his resignation a week ago but won't step down for another nine months, is on a breathtakingly fast track. Nominations for his seat can be submitted no later than Monday.

The Supreme Court of Georgia announced on Feb. 28 that Blackwell had resigned but will remain on the bench until Nov. 18. Blackwell's term ends Dec. 31, and he was scheduled to face reelection on May 19. On March 1, Gov. Brian Kemp's office notified Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger that the governor intends to appoint Blackwell's replacement, and the secretary of state canceled the election for Blackwell's seat.

The search for Blackwell's replacement  appears to have been put in motion after two would-be candidates for his seat—Beth Beskin, a partner at the Atlanta offices of Freeman Mathis & Gary, and former U.S. Rep. John Barrow, an Athens attorney—filed separate petitions for writs of mandamus. Both attorneys asked a Fulton County Superior Court judge to direct Raffensperger to reinstate the election for Blackwell's post.

Beskin is represented by Cary Ichter of Atlanta's Ichter Davis, and Barrow by Lester Tate, a partner at Cartersville's Akin & Tate, and by Poe McGlamry's Chuck Byrd and Buddy Darden.

On Friday, Ichter and Tate questioned the timing of the JNC's push for nominations, especially while their legal challenges are pending.

"This just goes to show you the administrative efficiency the governor's office can bring to a task when they are properly—or improperly—motivated," Ichter said. "If I were selling a car I didn't own, I would try to unload it really fast."

But, he added, "I don't think that should be any sort of impediment to us being able to get the relief we are looking for. … Collecting applications from would-be nominees hardly trumps the right of the people to exercise their choice about who the next Supreme Court justice should be."

Tate, too, found the JNC's timing "extremely irregular."

"It is abundantly clear to me that they are trying to fast track naming someone in order to prevent having to answer for canceling an election," he said.

Kemp's office and Russo did not respond Friday to requests for comment.

Raffensperger's spokesman has referred questions to the attorney general and the governor. A spokeswoman for Attorney General Chris Carr said that discussions with Raffensperger's office over Blackwell's seat and the canceled election are privileged.

The stepped-up move to name Blackwell's replacement is taking place even though the governor has yet to fill the Supreme Court seat vacated March 1 by retiring Justice Robert Benham. When Benham capsized the race for his seat last December by deciding to step down early and allow Kemp to appoint his replacement, the JNC waited two nearly two months before soliciting nominations to replace him. The JNC accepted nominations for 10 days and gave nominees two additional weeks to submit application packages.

The JNC announced Monday that it submitted a recommended short list of four candidates to Kemp. Benham's last day in office was Feb. 28.

On Thursday, Barrow also separately sought an emergency temporary restraining order that would keep qualifying for Blackwell's seat open. Candidate qualifying ended at noon Friday. But Tate said Superior Court Judge Amy Richardson has the authority to reopen it.

Tate also said Carr's staff lawyers, who are representing the secretary of state, "chose not to appear" for a scheduled Friday telephone conference with the judge about the requested TRO. He said Georgia law dictates a judge can't issue a TRO without five days' notice to the state.

But, he said, "We wanted the record to be clear that we had done everything we possibly could" to qualify to run for Blackwell's seat.

The governor contends he has the right to fill Blackwell's post by appointment.

Under state law, the governor can fill an elected post if it's vacated within six months of a general election. Georgia's  judicial general election is May 19. Beskin and Barrow were both barred by the secretary of state from qualifying to run for Blackwell's seat.

Meanwhile, Beskin qualified Friday to challenge Supreme Court Justice Charles Bethel, who is up for reelection this year. "I waited until the last possible moment, because I don't undertake a challenge of an incumbent lightly," she said. But Beskin, who campaigned last year to replace Benham until his surprise announcement that he would step down early, and the cancellation of the election for Blackwell's seat convinced her that she will have to challenge an incumbent to get on the bench.

"The litigation I filed this week in Fulton County Superior Court is ongoing," she said. "I filed that lawsuit as a potential candidate and in my capacity as a voter and elector who will be deprived of my right to elect a Supreme Court justice if the election for Justice Blackwell's seat does not proceed."

However, she said that state law "provides that a candidate, after qualifying, can withdraw her qualifications. Although I don't anticipate doing that, I would re-evaluate that stance should the Blackwell election proceed."