Dallas County Republicans sue to remove 100-plus Democrats from ballot

The Dallas County Republican Party has filed a lawsuit alleging more than 100 Democratic candidates should be ineligible to run for office.

The primary elections are just six weeks away and a ruling for the GOP could create electoral chaos if all of the 128 candidates were deemed ineligible.

The Dallas County Republican Party believes only 23 of the candidate applications have legitimate signatures by the Dallas County Democrats Chairwoman Carol Donovan.

The lawsuit shows an image of what it says is the chair's official signature, then shows other applications with different looking signatures.

"Everyone knows a petition must be signed and it must be signed clear as day by the party chair. That's nothing new there,” said Missy Shorey, Dallas County Republican chair.

Shorey is trying to have the 128 candidates declared ineligible.

“We feel sorry for those candidates, it is unfortunate their party chair isn't doing her job,” Shorey said.

State Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas) is one of the candidates listed and he doubts anything will come of the lawsuit.

"It has the probability of success of zero,” West said.

West does not have a challenger in the primary or general election. Even so, he is getting an attorney.

"I will vigorously defend their right to have me re-elected,” West said.

Donovan declined to talk on camera because of the lawsuit, but in a statement she attacked the credibility and timing of the allegations.

"Though we are taking the case seriously, the Republican Party's lawsuit is not supported by Texas law,” Donovan said. “It is clear by this attack that the Dallas County GOP cannot win at the ballot box, so they are trying to litigate their way into victories in Dallas County.”

Shorey said the law is the law.

"We are tasked as chairs to know and abide in the law. If all of a sudden it was okay for us to go forward without abiding in the law, we would have chaos. It needs to stop,” Shorey said.

The Dallas County Democratic Party has 21 days to respond to the lawsuit.