The Tarrant County GOP is moving to disqualify seven Democrat judicial candidates from the March primary, accusing them of failing to meet legally mandatory filing requirements that render their ballot applications invalid under Texas law.
Tarrant County GOP Chair Tim Davis cites numerous clear failures by the Democrat judicial candidates to comply with mandatory provisions in the Texas Election Code and is demanding that the Tarrant County Democratic Party declare the candidates ineligible for the upcoming primary election in March.
”Elections begin with the integrity of the process,” Chairman Davis said. “If you can’t follow the rules to get on the ballot, you can’t be trusted to enforce them from the bench. Our Republican judges have modeled competence, diligence, and fidelity to the rules through years of steady, distinguished service, while Democrat candidates keep cutting corners.”
The challenges were submitted to Democrat Party Chair Allison Campolo on Tuesday and provide multiple examples of defects in required petitions, affidavits, and judicial application disclosures.
Chairman Davis says in his submission that the filing authority’s duty, under the Texas Education Code, is to review applications for compliance and to reject those who do not meet all requirements. He emphasized that petition and application forms must be strictly adhered to for judicial candidates and “that noncompliant filings are legally insufficient for ballot placement.”
The candidates under scrutiny for allegedly cutting corners in completing the required forms and disclosures are Rodney Lee (Justice of the Peace, Precinct 4), Katherine “Kate” Kim (236th District Court), Brian Willett (323rd District Court), Courtney Miller (432nd District Court), Andrew Griffin (325th District Court), Julya Billhymer (County Criminal Court No. 5), and Lesa Pamplin (County Criminal Court No. 9).
Davis has called upon Campolo to uphold Texas’ election laws by rejecting these candidates who have failed to submit, or submitted defective, required forms.
According to the GOP’s letter, “Numerous Texas courts have held, noncompliance with these mandatory requirements renders a candidate’s filing insufficient and subject to rejection.”
Texas Scorecard reached out to the Tarrant County Democratic Party for comment but did not receive a response before publication.
