Brimer denied again

The State Supreme Court has rejected Sen. Kim Brimer's latest attempt to knock Wendy Davis off the ballot in SD10.

That leaves one more appeal pending in the 2nd Court of Appeals in Fort Worth for Brimer's petition to have Davis, a former city councilwoman, disqualified and kicked off November's ballot.

"We will continue to campaign aggressively while the court continues in its process to ensure all candidates in this race are eligible," a statement released by his campaign said.

Davis campaign officials said they are encouraged by the ruling.

"I think Kim Brimer has gone around and tried to shop this to different courts," said Matt Latham, campaign manager. "He'll have to abide by the process. Kim Brimer waited until July to file this.  . . .  That's like creating your own emergency and calling an ambulance."

Friday is the deadline for a candidate's name to be removed from the ballot, so I figure we'll get an answer by then. Apparently, Brimer could get Davis ruled ineligible after then, at which point she'd still be on the ballot but would be ineligible to serve if she won. That's a little weird, but this is Texas.

Burka echoes his editor's sentiments about how this all looks.

The politics of this maneuvering are very bad for Brimer. Political pros know the risks of asking the courts to knock your opponent off the ballot. Voters regard this as unfair play, and if it fails, they are very likely to punish the candidate who goes to court-and loses-at the ballot box. The Brimer camp had to know this before they went to court, so the logical conclusion is that they were sufficiently worried about the race that they were willing to take the risk-even after Brimer lost his case in the trial court. They also must have known that winning was a long shot, because courts strictly construe election laws against ineligibility.

The game is not quite over, because the Supreme Court action was not a decision on the merits. The Court of Appeals could still come to Brimer's rescue. Don't bet on it.

The Supreme Court's decision is here. A press release from the Davis campaign about the ruling is beneath the fold.

UPDATE: The Texas Blue has more.

Fort Worth, TX - After repeatedly refusing to debate his November opponent, former Fort Worth city councilwoman Wendy Davis, or go on the record regarding campaign issues, Senator Kim Brimer hosted a campaign kickoff luncheon today to help raise more money for his re-election bid.

Brimer, a 20-year state legislator, has repeatedly turned to the court system in hopes of avoiding a campaign, but his efforts to have Davis thrown off the ballot have been consistently unsuccessful. Today, the Texas Supreme Court denied Brimer's Petition for Mandamus and sent him back to the Court of Appeals.

"Each and every time we have proposed giving voters in this district a chance to hear us both speak on the issues they care about, Kim Brimer has refused while referencing his unsuccessful antics in court. However, when it comes to mingling with donors and ensuring that he has enough funds in his campaign account to continue to fund his lavish lifestyle, he conveniently forgets his excuses for not campaigning. So Mr. Brimer, which is it?" said Davis campaign manager Matt Latham.

According to the Tarrant County Republican Party website (www.tcgop.org), Brimer held his campaign kickoff luncheon at Joe T. Garcia's Restaurant today from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m..

"Mr. Brimer believes that Wendy's candidacy is enough to kick-off a campaign and to ask donors for money but not enough to warrant a discussion on the issues?" said Latham. "That mentality is precisely the reason that voters across Tarrant County are so hungry for a change in leadership."

Posted by Charles Kuffner on August 19, 2008 to Election 2008