| The Second Court of Appeals ruled that the ballot challenge raised by three alleged Democratic firemen of the Fort Worth Firefighters Association had no standing.
This, barring no interjection by the Texas Supreme Court, officially clears the way for Democrat Wendy Davis to continue her campaign against Republican Kim Brimer in Senate District 10. More from the Star-Telegram:
In a 50-minute hearing in downtown Fort Worth Wednesday morning, Justice John Cayce questioned whether citizens have legal grounds to challenge a political candidates' eligibility.
Craig Deats, a lawyer with the Texas Fire Fighters Association who represented the local firefighters, was forced to spend nearly half his time before the judges defending his clients' right to pursue the suit.
"If in fact the court were to declare that the Democratic Party members have no standing ... then that means the only persons who have standing are the adversaries," Deats said, suggesting such a framework would be undemocratic.
Buck Wood, one of Davis' three lawyers at the hearing, predicted chaotic election cycles if any citizen could challenge a candidate's eligibility.
"There would probably be challenges in most elections over the eligibility of one candidate or another somewhere between the filing deadline and the general election," Wood said.
Now that Kim Brimer and Bryan Eppstein's flimsy attempt to rid themselves of a real challenger for a seat trending Democratic has failed, voters in Tarrant County can continue to purge Republicans from office and replace them with mainstream candidates poised to address the pressing issues facing us all.
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