Dallas County Democratic Chair Carol Donovan
Visiting Republican Judge Christi Kennedy from Smith County today threw out a lawsuit by the Dallas County Republican Party and GOP judicial candidate Michael Lee that sought to knock incumbent Democratic Judge Staci Williams off the ballot as a result of alleged deficiencies in Williams’ nominating papers.
The case is related to one filed by the GOP attempting to knock 128 candidates off the Democratic primary ballot. That case has not been heard yet, but could be heard as early as next week.
A visiting judge was assigned the case because some of the candidates named in the suit were judges in the courts where the case could have been assigned.
Should the GOP prevail, some Democratic primary winners could be knocked off the November ballot.
The case revolved around the signature of Dallas County Democratic Party Chair Carol Donovan missing from the 128 candidate applications. Texas election code does not require the signature.
On the original lawsuit, however, Dallas County Republican Party Chair Missy Shorey did forget to sign, and a valid signature is required on a lawsuit.
Meanwhile, state Rep. Eric Johnson has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. He is among the candidates the GOP is seeking to remove from the ballot.
“This lawsuit is part of a disturbing pattern of the GOP finding problems where they do not exist, which have the effect, if not the intent, of keeping minority voters from electing the candidates of their choice,” Johnson said.
“We are delighted by the judge’s ruling,” Donovan said in a press release. “This was a cynical political lawsuit filed by the Republicans to subvert the will of the electorate and achieve, through litigation, what the Republican Party could not hope to attain at the ballot box. The judge’s decision ensures that the voters — and not a court — will decide the outcome of this election.”
Donovan was re-elected to another term as Dallas County Democratic Party Chair during the primary.
Chad Baruch, one of the lawyers for the Democratic Party, said in the press release, “This decision reinforces what we have been saying from the beginning, which is that Texas judges decide these cases based on the law and not on politics. Despite cynical suggestions to the contrary, our judges rise above partisan politics in discharging their duty to apply the law. We are delighted that the judge did so in this case, and we never doubted the outcome.”
— David Taffet
Yeah THANK YOU CHRIS HAMILTON !!! for all your quick work which kept Stacy on the Primary Ballot !! when the one above had totally let it go !! Truth, Reality and Facts matter.. or they SHOULD !!
Chris Hamilton had nothing to do with it, Tony. Election is over with and you stop crushing on him. Truth and reality do matter. This was always a baseless lawsuit.
Sorry this is Judge Williams and Chris Hamilton saved the day by helping to get my appeal filed before the midnight deadline. Carol Donovan did not tell me about the hearing and Carol Donovan did not tell me about the midnight deadline to file an appeal.
Judge Williams. You’re a civil judge and you don’t know your the procedures? Carol Donovan/County was not responsible for letting you know what the deadlines were or the hearing. You’re an experienced person. You should know to appear in court or file an appeal, your lawyer tells you about it, not the county chair of your political party.
The way the Judge and her sister have acted, I don’t think I can ever sign one of her petitions again and I don’t mind sharing that feeling with Democrats in my precinct, clubs and church.
I’ve never met Chris Hamilton, but I’ve run into a few of his fan club members out at the marches. They think he’s a one-man Justice League who can do no wrong, and they don’t seem to be very well acquainted with truth, reality, or facts.