Houston Public Media reports that some 200,000 Houston residents in District B had to wait more than a year to elect a City Council member as the race was delayed because of an legal question: Can a candidate with a felony conviction run for office in Texas?
"The top two vote-getters in the November 2019 general election, Tarsha Jackson and Cynthia Bailey, faced a runoff, after a nine-month legal battle about Bailey's eligibility. After Bailey and Jackson made the runoff in a crowded field, the third-place candidate sued both Houston and Harris County, arguing that Bailey's felony conviction disqualified her under state law. ...The Houston election has put second chances on the ballot for the whole state. Council Member Jerry Davis, who's term limited, has stayed on during the election legal battle, while over the past year."
Bailey won in court, with State judges ruling three times in her favor, but on December 12, Jackson bested her at the polls, garnering 68.5% of the vote in the runoff election, to beat Bailey.
Texas election law states that, “A finally convicted felon is not eligible to be a candidate for public elected office in this state unless they have been pardoned or otherwise released from the resulting disabilities.” Bills have been filed in the legislature to allow felons to run for office.
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