The Tarrant County Republican Party can’t fill a contested precinct chair position until the issue is settled in court, the Seventh Court of Appeals of Texas in Amarillo ruled July 30.
The ruling is the latest in an unusual legal saga over the rights of local political parties in the state. It started after resident Chris Rector won a primary election to chair Tarrant County Precinct 4230 with 75% of the vote. A week later, Tarrant County Republican Party Chairman Bo French accused Rector of pretending to be a Republican in order to dissolve the party and merge it with the Tarrant County Democratic Party. French refused to issue a certificate of election to Rector.
Rector sued in April, alleging that the party chair “concocted a bogus, fraudulent claim that Contestant was ineligible for the position to which he had been elected.”
Rector is asking a judge to declare him eligible and confirm his election as precinct chair. In the interim, he asked for a temporary restraining order to ensure the Tarrant County Republican Party can’t appoint someone else as chair.
Finding a judge to hear the case was a challenge. Multiple local Republican judges recused themselves early in the proceedings, prompting the assignment of visiting judge Sydney Hewlett to the case. In a June court hearing, attorneys for both parties acknowledged the uniqueness of the case before them. Neither could recall a prior instance of an elected precinct chair not being seated and suing as a result.
The position of precinct chair itself exists in a strange spot within Texas elections; while precinct chairs are elected during primaries, they don’t go on to face an opponent from the opposing party in a general election like other elected positions. That fact prompted disagreements over whether Rector’s lawsuit was filed within the time allowed by law, which differs depending on the type of election contest.
Ultimately, Hewlett denied a motion by attorney Tony McDonald, who is representing the local Republican Party, to dismiss the case under the Texas Citizens Participation Act. McDonald then filed an appeal with the Second Court of Appeals in Fort Worth. All seven Republican justices on the court recused themselves, and the appeal was transferred to the Amarillo court.
Attorney Steve Maxwell, who is representing Rector, filed for emergency relief after. In its July 30 ruling, the appeals court said granting the relief — which means blocking the party from filling the precinct chair position — was necessary to preserve the rights of the parties until it made a decision on whether Hewlett had erred when she denied the motion to dismiss the case.
“Filling the purported vacancy in precinct 4230 with someone other than Rector pending disposition of the appeal could harm Rector, given his apparent victory in the election for the seat,” the justices wrote in their decision.
French and the Tarrant County Republican Party have argued that being forced to seat Rector violates their freedom of association. McDonald told the Fort Worth Report in a statement that the appeals court decision only furthered that violation.
“The court abused its discretion, and its order has no basis in law,” McDonald said. “We’re exploring our options to deal with it. In the meantime, it’s not clear how it applies practically. The Tarrant County GOP will not tolerate the violation of our First Amendment rights.”
Maxwell declined to comment on the ruling. Other motions before the appeals court are still undecided, including the initial appeal from McDonald that challenges the validity of Rector’s underlying lawsuit.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.