by Eric Dondero

Libertarian groups such as the Libertarian Party, Americans for Limited Government, Sam Adams Alliance, and various statewide taxpayer groups have had to deal with enormous legal challenges and fees over the years for their petition gathering efforts. Allegations of signature fraud and illegal gathering methods have been lobbed at these groups. Naturally, the challenges have come from mostly Democrat and Democrat-allied groups.

That makes the following story especially sweet.

It's seems a Democrat State Rep. from the Dallas area, used some "creative" methods for signature gathering in order to qualify for the ballot. Texas law allows major party candidates to qualify by peition signatures - approx. 600 - or by paying a filing fee. Filing closed on Jan. 6.

Ironically, the news comes from a liberal-leaning alternative publication in the Dallas area. The Rep. has a Democrat primary opponent. And its easy to speculate that perhaps that's where the news originated.

From The Dallas Observer:

Good grief: Buzz just loves shenanigans, so it's no wonder we found ourselves roped in by claims from Eric Johnson's campaign that some of the petitions attached to state Representative Terri Hodge's ballot application didn't pass the smell test. It appeared as though Hodge, who submitted 610 signatures from registered voters (500 are required) just prior to Monday's filing deadline in lieu of paying the $750 filing fee, might have been circulating petitions with Dallas County Clerk Gary Fitzsimmons' name on them, nabbing the signatures, whiting out his name and then replacing it with hers.

"I was able to hold the petition up to the light, and by looking through it, Gary Fitzsimmons was typed under the whiteout," said Ben Setnick, one of Johnson's two campaign operatives dispatched to Dallas County Democratic Party headquarters.

No Republican or Libertarian filed for this south Dallas seat. However, Texas law does have a provision for write-in candidacies. Which could certainly be an important consideration, particularly for the GOP, if Rep. Hodges somehow manages to prevail over her primary opponent.