Do legal fund donations count as election contributions? Sen. Kim Brimer, R-Fort Worth, is suing the Democratic challenger for his Senate District 10 seat, former Fort Worth council member Wendy Davis to get her off the November ballot. (Read the complaint here.)
It seems like a re-run of a case Fort Worth firefighters brought against Davis earlier in the year. The firefighters (who many Democrats saw as a front for Brimer) claimed that since Davis was on the council when she filed, her candidacy broke state laws about not holding one lucrative office while running for another. The Second Court of Appeals threw the suit out because the firefighters were not eligible to bring it, not on the substance of the case. But Travis Co. District Judge Margaret Cooper seemingly cleared that up on June 30 when she ruled that Democrat and former Midland council member Bill Dingus could challenge Speaker Tom Craddick for his house seat because his council and potential House terms would not overlap.
Texas Democratic Party chair Boyd Richie said Brimer’s “frivolous, carbon copy lawsuit is the most cowardly stunt I’ve ever seen.” Erica Proser, communications director for Annie’s List (the state-wide PAC supporting Democratic women candidates) called it “a desperate ploy on Brimer’s part, so the only real question is whether he is more afraid of Wendy Davis or his own dismal record.”
This article appears in July 4 • 2008.
