Brimer Loses Again

Kim Brimer has done everything he can to avoid facing Wendy Davis in November in the Senate District 10 race in Tarrant County. That's because with his ethical problems and lack of name recognition even though he's an incumbent, it's looking more and more like he can't beat Davis in a fair election.

First, he talks some fireman into filing suit in court to keep Davis off the November ballot. When that doesn't work, he files suit himself in State District Court. But District Judge Tom Lowe shot that down by ruling Davis is eligible to run. But instead of accepting the court's judgement and trying to beat his opponent in a fair campaign, Brimer appealed that ruling to the 5th Court of Appeals.

Now Brimer has lost again. Yesterday, the appeals court ruled against him. The court said, "Brimer’s only legally recognized interest in pursuing this appeal is to avoid being opposed by an ineligible candidate. Even if Davis is ineligible to hold office -- an issue we do not reach in this appeal -- her name will be included on the November 4, 2008 general election ballot in opposition to Brimer. We cannot, at this point, change that outcome and, therefore, this appeal is moot."

Now Brimer again has a choice. He can take on Wendy Davis in a fair election, or he can appeal this case to the Texas Supreme Court. I think he'll take the cowardly route and appeal the case. Brimer is running scared. He knows how popular ex-councilwoman Wendy Davis (pictured above) is in Tarrant County, and he doesn't think he can win a fair election.

I think he's right.

Court Ruling Puts Davis On Ballot

It looks like the lackluster senator from District 10 in Fort Worth is going to have to beat his opponent in the November election if he wants to keep his seat. Kim Brimer, a Republican state senator with ethical concerns (he charged the state for "rent" he said he paid to his wife), has lost the court case he filed against his Democratic opponent.

Brimer had filed the court challenge in an effort to keep his opponent, Wendy Davis, off the November ballot. He claimed she could not legally run because even though she had resigned her city council seat before declaring her candidacy, she had to serve until her replacement was chosen (as the law required).

The court ruled that the Davis candidacy did not violate the rules, and she should be on the November ballot. That's bad news for Brimer. Davis was a very popular council-member, and a 2008 poll of District 10 voters showed only a minority of them even know who Brimer is. There is a very good chance he will lose in November.

Because of this, there is a very good chance Brimer will appeal the decision. His best chance of winning is to not have an opponent. I doubt if the appeal will help him much though. Davis did everything she could do to follow the rules.

Upon hearing of the ruling, Wendy Davis said, "I'm very very confident in the law and I'm very confident, that regardless of the appellate level that hears this case, we are legally on the ballot. I hope it sends a message to my opponent. That message being that it's time to start debating the issues that are important to the voters of Senate District 10 and put aside these petty legal obstacles."

Brimer Is Still Running Scared

Fort Worth's State Senator for District 10 (Kim Brimer) has a reputation in Austin for not getting much accomplished (other than paying rent to his wife). In fact, a majority of his constituents don't even know his name. The only reason he's been re-elected is because he's a Republican, and the Democrats have not run a really good candidate against him.

But things are different this year. The public is tired of the failed Republican leadership, and it's looking like only the well-known Republicans in the safest districts will survive this year. Compounding the fact that Brimer is not well-know and doesn't represent a really safe district, is the fact that this year he has a formidable opponent.

His opponent in the November election is Wendy Davis. Davis (pictured above) is a well-known and well-respected former member of the Fort Worth City Council. She resigned her council seat a few months ago so she could run against Brimer in senate district 10.

After she got her name on the ballot, Brimer must have been scared because he put some Ft. Worth firemen up to challenging the legality of her candidacy. I guess he thought if he couldn't beat her in the election, maybe he could beat her in court by getting her name removed from the ballot. But the judge said the firemen didn't have standing to challenge her candidacy, and tossed the case out of court.

Evidently, Brimer is still afraid to meet Davis in a fair election in November. Both Politex and North Texas Liberal tell us that he has now filed suit against Davis himself. He's trying the same argument that the firemen were using. He's trying to use the fact that even though she had resigned before becoming a candidate, she kept sitting as a council member until her replacement could be elected and sworn in (as the law demanded).

He must not be keeping up with the news though, or he would know that House Speaker Craddick had tried the same thing to keep his opponent off the ballot -- and failed. The judge in that case ruled that Dingus' (Craddick's opponent) city council position would be over before the election, so he was eligible to be on the ballot as a candidate.

There is no reason to believe the decision in this case won't be the same, especially since Davis has not been on the council for several months now. I expect the courts to once again slap down Brimer's hopes. If he wants to go back to Austin, he's going to have to defeat Wendy Davis in November.

Personally, I don't think he can do it.

Davis Wins The First Battle Against Brimer

Democrat Wendy Davis resigned her Fort Worth City Council seat last August, and announced her intention to run against Republican State Senator Kim Brimer in the 2008 election. Brimer has done very little with his senate seat, and most of his own constituents don't even know who he is. Many believe that the popular ex-councilwoman has an excellent chance to beat him in November.

Evidently, Brimer thinks she can beat him also, because he had his campaign representative, Bryan Eppstein, try to pull a fast one and get Davis disqualified. Eppstein also represented the Fort Worth Fire Department in a fight against the city, so he got three "Democratic" firemen to write a letter to the Tarrant County Democratic Party claiming Davis was not eligible to run for the senate seat.

Even though Davis had resigned in August, the law said she had to continue to serve in that position until her replacement was sworn in. This is so her district would not go without representation. The three "Democrats" used this to try and disqualify her.

The Attorney General and the Tarrant County Democratic Party disagreed, so the three "Democrats" took the matter to court. On Wednesday, the Second Court of Appeals ruled that the three "Democrats" had no standing in the matter and dismissed their case.

Brimer must really be scared of Davis in the upcoming election to have pushed the matter this far (and don't even try to say he wasn't involved -- the connections are just too clear). It wouldn't surprise me if this little cabal didn't try to appeal this decision all the way up to the Texas Supreme Court. After all, it's packed with ethically-challenged Republicans, and it's a lot easier to get your opponent disqualified than to beat her in a fair election.

Brimer can't run on his record. His record is pretty dismal and he has some ethical problems himself -- something about using campaign funds to pay rent to his wife. That is why he's trying to win the election in court rather than at the ballot box.

He's afraid the voters in Fort Worth might actually vote for the better candidate -- Wendy Davis.

Is Brimer Running Scared Already ?

After the Senate District 10 political shenanigans of the last couple of days, I have to wonder if the Brimer campaign is already running scared -- before the primary has even been held. Does Senator Brimer believe he might lose in a head-to-head election confrontation with Democratic candidate Wendy Davis?

Davis is a good candidate and popular in the district. Maybe that's why Brimer's political consultant, Bryan Eppstein, is trying to get rid of her before the general election campaign even begins.

Eppstein has an "in" with the Fort Worth Fire Department. He represented them in their battle to get collective-bargaining rights from the city. That made it easy for him to label Wendy Davis as an enemy of the Fire Department, and talk three supposedly Democratic firemen into writing Tarrant County Democratic Chairman Art Brender and claiming Davis was violating the law by running.

There is a state law that prevents a sitting council member from running for the state legislature. Davis resigned her council seat in August, but was required by law to continue representing her district until her replacement, who has already been elected, could be sworn in.

It now looks like Eppstein and the firemen may have been trying to split hairs by invoking the state law. Brender took the matter to the Secretary of State's office. The Secretary of State has put the matter back into Bremer's hands as the filing authority for the primary election of District 10.

A spokesman for the Secretary of State said state law is not clear on whether the eligibility was OK when Davis resigned or whether it was OK only after her replacement was sworn in. He said the matter was one that Brender would have to decide.

Wendy Davis has done nothing wrong. Everything she has done was open and above-board. Her resignation was accepted by the council last August. Brender should end this matter by declaring Davis eligible to run for the senate seat. He should not let a political consultant for the Republican opponent misuse state law to save his candidate's job.

Tarrant County has recently become known for Republican dirty tricks. This is just one more. If Brimer wants to keep his job, let him win it in a fair election.

Evidently, he's afraid he won't be able to do that.

SD 10 Race In Tarrant Is Heating Up

It looks like Kim Brimer will have some competition for his senate seat in Tarrant County's District 10. The district covers several cities in the eastern part of the county, including Colleyville, Arlington, Mansfield and part of Fort Worth.

On Thursday night, Wendy Davis resigned her city council seat and announced that she will be running for Brimer's seat as a Democrat. Davis has been on the Fort Worth city council since 1999. She told her fellow council members that she wanted to fight against special interests in Austin. She said, "Texas is ready for change. The partnership in Austin is badly broken."

County Democrats feel that they have a good opportunity to take the District 10 seat since Brimer has done little to distinguish himself since being elected. In fact, a recent poll conducted in the district showed that over half the residents there don't even know who Brimer is.

Davis may have some opposition in the Democratic primary. Long-time Democratic activist and party leader Art Brender is also considering a run for the seat. He sounded like a candidate Thursday night by firing a shot at Davis for voting in the 2006 Republican primary. He said, "I believe like Harry Truman if you run a Republican against a Republican, the Republicans will win every time."

It's good to see a couple of strong Democratic contenders ready to challenge for this seat. For too many years, the Republicans have been allowed to keep this seat with little or no opposition.