The day before his scheduled court date, now-former State Rep. Nathan Macias has dropped his lawsuit to overturn the result of the GOP primary in HD73.
Macias had sought to overturn his 17-vote defeat to [Edwards Aquifer Authority Chairman Doug] Miller in the election and ensuing recount."As you can imagine, to try any case in the court system is not only a matter of the facts or truth, but also includes matters judgment, matters of procedure and quite frankly resources," said Macias in a Friday press release. "So my family and I have determined it best for all parties involved to no longer pursue this election in the courts."
With a Republican nominee in place after more than three months of recounts and litigation, Miller now will face Democrat Daniel Boone in the November general election.
"I'm elated," Miller said. "It's been a long process. I think people were tired of hearing about the Republican primary. On behalf of all the voters in District 73, I'm glad this is over."
The incumbent's lawsuit claimed a number of factors had led to the election results being invalid, including illegal double-voting, clerical errors by election officials and possible fraud across the four-county district.
Macias said in the release that an ongoing criminal investigation is being done by the state attorney general's office to determine if anything illegal took place on election night.
"After awhile I felt like had to defend the people of District 73," Miller said. "They're good people. Nobody cheated or did anything illegal."
Be that as it may, I'm glad for this. Macias was a wholly-owned subsidiary of James Leininger, so his departure means that the voucher man got even less bang for his five million bucks in 2006. And given Macias's incredibly whiny and petulant statement upon his concession, which Karen Brooks reprints, I doubt too many people will miss him now that he's gone.
Posted by Charles Kuffner on May 18, 2008 to Election 2008