Texas appeals court rules for congressman in lawsuit seeking to hold seat

[Judi Lynn]

Texas appeals court rules for congressman in lawsuit seeking to hold seat

Wednesday, June 23, 2004



(06-23) 17:25 PDT SAN ANTONIO (AP) --

A Texas congressman's re-election hopes stayed alive Wednesday when a state appeals court sided with him in a lawsuit that alleges vote fraud during the March Democratic primary.

By a 2-1 vote, a 4th Court of Appeals panel overturned a lower-court judge who had ruled that U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez could not challenge the eligibility of hundreds voters in Webb and Zapata counties or conduct a full inspection of ballots for signs of tampering.

Rodriguez, a seven-year incumbent, trails Laredo lawyer Henry Cuellar by 58 votes out of nearly 50,000 cast in the district that runs in a corridor from San Marcos to the Mexican border.

Cuellar said he will ask for a hearing before the full seven-member appeals court. If his appeal is rejected, the case will go back to state court for a trial.
(snip/...)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/06/23/politics2025EDT0757.DTL

[Rose Siding]

1. Rodriguez is one of the Killer D's

I had little hope that he'd get this far. The challenger is (if I recall correctly) linked to repubs in his recent past.