A judge on Friday dismissed a former Dallas City Council candidate’s lawsuit challenging the results of a May election in which he fell just 28 votes short of the runoff.
South Dallas pastor Donald Parish Jr. came in third in the race for the District 7 council seat, which was ultimately won by incumbent Councilman Adam Bazaldua. Election Day had been marred by technical snafus and staffing problems that downed some polling locations, including several in South Dallas’ District 7, for hours. Although the county’s election department said these issues had no effect on the election results, and no candidate formally asked for a recount, Parish called for an investigation and filed suit.
His lawsuit in Dallas County’s 162nd Judicial District Court was thrown out Friday. The Texas Supreme Court previously denied Parish’s attempt to stop the results of the District 7 runoff from being certified. Bazaldua, with more than 63 percent of votes cast, won the runoff over former Councilman Kevin Felder.
