Westbrook/Photo by Campaign
A new lawsuit filed with the Texas Supreme Court last week is seeking to remove a number of Libertarian candidates from the November 2020 ballot, including the Libertarian nominee for U.S. House District 13, Jack B. Westbrook.
The lawsuit is seeking to remove over two dozen Libertarians from the ballot across the state, with plaintiffs arguing that the candidates did not pay a newly created filing fee for third party candidates. The lawsuit is being brought forward by a number of Republican candidates and elected officials seeking various offices across Texas.
While it is true that a number of these candidates did not pay their filing fees, several Libertarian candidates filed for the ballot after a group of Libertarian candidates and activists receive an injunction late last year which halted the imposition of the filing fees for third party candidates.
“The Libertarian Party has been consistently gaining support in Texas over the past several elections, and it is clear the Republican Party feels threatened, which is why they are now trying to sneak in days before the ballot is finalized to further limit voter choice in Texas,” Texas Libertarian Party vice chair Bekah Congdon said in a statement.
Several of the candidates named in the lawsuit are set to appear on Amarillo ballots, including Westbrook, who is set to compete in the race to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry in Texas’ 13th Congressional District. Westbrook is set to appear on the ballot alongside Republican nominee Ronny Jackson and Democrat Gus Trujillo. Jackson is not a plaintiff in the lawsuit.
Statewide candidates named in the lawsuit include two Texas Supreme Court candidates, Mark Ash and William Bryan Strange III. Ash is notable for holding the distinction of receiving over 1.6 million votes in his campaign for the Court of Criminal Appeals Place 8 seat in 2018 against Republican Michelle Slaughter, setting a record for the state party.
This new lawsuit comes after courts forced a number of Green Party nominees off the ballot, including the party’s nominees for U.S. Senate and Railroad Commissioner.