GOP threatens to sue to block Walther from taking Pct. 2 seat

The Republican Party of Kerr County and Pct. 2 Commissioner Rich Paces are threatening to sue independent challenger Jeremy Walther. They want a judge to declare him ineligible to take office because he voted in the Republican primary runoff in May.

Walther said party Chairwoman Helen Herd called him Saturday and offered not to sue if he publicly dropped out and removed his campaign signs. He refused.

“I told her she was wrong, according to Texas Election Code,” Walther wrote in an email to supporters. “I declined.”

Walther received a draft petition over the weekend. Attorney James E. “Trey” Trainor III also sent a letter to County Judge Rob Kelly on Saturday, demanding a written response by 5 p.m. Monday. County offices were closed Monday for Columbus Day. As of [TIME] Monday, no suit had been filed.

What Republicans want

Walther’s name will stay on the Nov. 3 ballot because the deadline to remove it passed in August. The draft petition asks a judge to declare Walther ineligible and bar county officials from certifying him if he wins. The county judge would then fill the seat by appointment. The petition says Republicans are not asking the court to declare Paces the winner.

Trainor is with Dhillon Law Group, a national firm known for representing Republican causes. He is a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission and has served as general counsel to the Republican Party of Texas. He ran for the 21st Congressional District seat this year and finished third districtwide in the March primary. He was second in Kerr County with 22.3%.

It is the second time this cycle the local GOP has stepped in for Paces. Before the March primary, the county party endorsed him over fellow Republican Mike Allen. Party organizations generally stay neutral in contested primaries.

The runoff dispute

Section 162.015 of the Texas Election Code bars anyone who “voted at a primary election” from running as an independent “for an office for which a candidate was nominated in the primary.”

Walther filed his independent candidacy petitions in April and did not vote in the March 3 primary. County records show he voted early in the Republican runoff on May 22. The Pct. 2 race was not on that ballot, because Paces had beaten Allen outright in March, 1,438 votes to 1,307.

“My office wasn’t on the runoff ballot that I voted in,” Walther wrote.

Republicans argue the runoff is part of the party’s primary. They cite rules that bar runoff voters from signing independent candidates’ petitions, Texas Secretary of State guidance and a 2002 Texas Supreme Court ruling that enforced the law against a primary voter. Walther notes that the Legislature wrote “runoff” into the rules for petition signers but not into the section on candidates.

The Lead found no Texas court ruling on a candidate who voted only in a runoff that did not include his race. Walther said he has consulted five election attorneys and is raising money for legal fees.

“I’m ready to fight all the way if needed,” he wrote.