Ballot decision on Farenthold expected Wednesday after Tuesday Hearing
AUSTIN, Texas - Attorneys for the state of Texas announced Tuesday they will not sue Republicans party leaders if they do not include the name of congressmen Blake Farenthold on the upcoming primary ballot.
Last week the Congressman decided he will not seek reelection after accusations of harassment by staff members were made public.
The decision by the congressman Farenthold to not run again came after he had already filed for re-election. He represents a district that runs from Bastrop to Corpus Christi.
Tuesday was the deadline for the state GOP to submit names of candidates to the state for the upcoming primary.
GOP leaders want a clean primary race for the Congressional seat being vacated by Farenthold and decided a federal lawsuit was needed to prevent the state from forcing the party to include Farenthold's name on the ballot. Political parties are required by state law to submit the names of all the candidates who have filed to run for office.
A hearing regarding that was held this morning before federal Magistrate Andrew Austin. As the hearing began- lawyers for the state Attorney General and the Secretary of State informed the court that, in their opinion they do not have the authority to stop the GOP from deciding who they want on its primary ballot.
Attorneys for the state also said there is nothing they can do to penalize a political party for pulling a name off the official list that’s sent to the state. The court room announcement was a surprise for Chris Gober, the Attorney for the GOP.
"If they effectively don’t have that power, there is really no reason for us to be in court today because that leaves Chairman Dickey with the discretion that he ultimately desires and what he wants to do with the Ballot certifications,” said Gober.
Officials with the Texas GOP said on Wednesday, a formal announcement will be made about who will be named on the GOP primary ballot. A ballot-court-battle, Gober admits, could be filed if Farenthold’s name is not included on the list. One scenario is that a challenger could come from a person who wanted to run, but decided not to run because congressman Farenthold had originally qualified.
For the remainder of the day, GOP leaders were tried to decide if it’s worth the gamble to take Farenthold's name off the ballot; risking a lawsuit by a possible disenfranchised candidate. Or leave his name on it; risking the possibility that the embattled and outgoing congressman could actually win the GOP nomination. The question is perplexing and potentially ground breaking with political ramifications well beyond this one congressional race.
“So this already occurs to some extent what this does as a president really remains to be seen, I don’t think in most cases you are going to see Chairman of either the Republican party or the Democratic party simply using this to play politics,” said Gober.
That opened up a possible scenario that involved Lt. Governor Dan Patrick as the Chairman of the state Republican party. Gober was asked if the determination made Tuesday would give Patrick card Blanche to keep a political rival, like House Speaker Joe Straus, off the party ballot.
“Well you've effectively have the Secretary of State give card blanche they're not the party to enforce that, there now, certainly any other party that has standing can,” said gober.
According to GOP records, there are currently seven people who have filed for the congressional seat held by Farenthold; including the incumbent.