Dallas GOP Ordered to Pay $51,600 After Failed Bid to Kick Democrats Off November Ballot

The Dallas County Republican Party will have to pay more than $51,000 to Dallas County Democrats for attorney fees incurred in defending the GOP's attempt to remove dozens of Democrats from election ballots.In his final order for the case, state District Judge Eric Moyé ordered the plaintiffs to pay Democrats for the work of three lawyers involved in the case. The bulk of the $51,600 -- more than $32,000 -- was awarded to the Dallas County Democratic Party to pay their lawyer in the case, Randy Johnston. The action came after Moyé dismissed the case late last month."This is totally a self-inflicted wound on the Republican Party," Johnston said Monday. "I told them from the start this was a fatally flawed, frivolous lawsuit, but no one would listen. They attacked the trial judge, they attacked the Democratic Party Chair, and they attacked 127 qualified candidates. And they lost it all. Totally self-inflicted and they have no one to blame but themselves."Republicans argued that 127 Democrats were ineligible for the March 6 primary because Dallas County Democratic Party Chairwoman Carol Donovan did not "sign" candidate petitions that certified and forward to the Texas secretary of state. The number of candidates that would have been impacted by the case dwindled to 82 after the primary.  Continue reading...