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| 1/30/2010 8:00:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | Residency dispute headed for jury trial
The House District 52 residency fight between Republican candidates John Gordon and Alyssa Eacono appears headed for a jury trial - but not before the Feb. 16-26 early voting period and probably not even before the March 2 primary itself.
Gordon and attorney Roy Minton, who is defending Eacono in the lawsuit Gordon filed earlier this month, each confirmed Thursday that the third and possibly final round in this GOP slugfest will be played out in front of a jury.
"We decided we had to go to a jury trial," Gordon said, recalling the unfavorable ruling he received Jan. 19 from visiting District Court Judge James Clawson. "We'd rather stand our chances in front of a jury of citizens."
The gist of the lawsuit is Gordon's claim that Eacono does not, as required by law, live within the boundaries of the district she seeks to represent in the Texas State Legislature.
In addition to Gordon and Eacono, the other two candidates in the GOP race are Stephen Casey and Larry Gonzales, both of Round Rock.
Each of the four Republican candidates seeks to take on freshman incumbent Diana Maldonado (D-Round Rock) in the Nov. 2 general election.
District 52 takes in almost all of Round Rock and almost all of the Anderson Mill and Jollyville areas, as well as Hutto, Taylor and Thrall, plus portions of Georgetown and the Brushy Creek Municipal Utility District.
The rest of Williamson County is represented by District 20 state Rep. Dan Gattis (R-Georgetown).
Eacono filed for a place on the ballot on Jan. 4 - the last day to do so - submitting her paperwork to Williamson Republican Party Chairman Bill Fairbrother.
Gordon - who previously stated he'd hired a private investigator to determine where Eacono lives - contends she does not reside at the address she listed on her ballot application, 1045 Kenney's Way, Round Rock.
Gordon contends Eacono lives at 3104 Cutaway Cove, in Brushy Creek, which would place her in House District 20.
Earlier this month Gordon filed a lawsuit, in order to prevent Fairbrother from having ballots printed.
Fairbrother and Gordon each agree it is not Fairbrother's responsibility, as party chairman, to investigate whether candidates live where they claim to.
Furthermore, Fairbrother said an attorney with the Elections Division at the Texas Secretary of State's office advised him he has no legal authority to remove a candidate from the ballot, so Gordon's only recourse was to file the civil lawsuit.
On Jan. 14 Clawson issued a restraining order, forbidding Fairbrother from having ballots printed until he could hold a hearing.
That hearing took place Jan. 19 and produced about one hour's worth of testimony from both sides.
Eacono testified she has lived at the Kenney's Way address since June 2009, moving there from Austin, where she had maintained a residence while the Legislature was in session. Eacono works as chief of staff for District 114 state Rep. Will Hartnett.
Eacono testified she lives with a cousin, Larry Hill, and from the witness stand he confirmed her story.
Eacono said she bought the Cutaway Cove property last November and is "fixing it up" to use as rental property. She said she does not live there.
After hearing testimony Clawson lifted the temporary order, clearing the way for Fairbrother to work with Williamson County Elections Administrator Rick Barron in preparing primary ballots.
Barron said further delay would have held up the ballot preparation process for both Republicans and Democrats, because everything goes into one computer database.
Meanwhile, Gordon and his attorney, Mary Dale, vowed they would - at a full-blown trial - produce witnesses who will testify Eacono does not live where she says she does.
Minton - Eacono's attorney - said the allegation against his client has no merit.
"The lady moved into the district back in June, in her cousin's place," Minton said. "If you move into a place, that's your residence, that's it ... I own several rent houses but that doesn't mean they're my residences."
Gordon and Minton each said that due to scheduling and time needed for preparation, the case might not go to trial until after the primary has already been held.
How all this will affect primary election results remains to be seen.
With four candidates in the Republican primary race, it's possible no candidate will receive more than 50 percent of the vote. If that happens, the top two vote-getters would meet in an April 13 runoff.
Eacono's votes would be discounted, should a judge or jury remove her from the ballot.
"If she won, that would foul it up," Gordon said. "Or if she got enough votes to get into the runoff. Or if she just got enough votes to force a runoff."
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