The lawsuit State Sen. Kim Brimer filed this morning hinges on the order in which several events occurred. Here's a timeline of the events in question:
August, 9, 2007: Wendy Davis announces at a Fort Worth City Council meeting that she is resigning from her seat on the Fort Worth City Council and will run as a Democrat to challenge Republican State Sen. Kim Brimer. In compliance with the city charter and state law, she continued to retain her city council seat until a replacement was sworn in.
October 2, 2007: Kristi Wiseman, Davis' chief of staff, sends an email from a City email account on around this date noting that Davis plans for January 8, 2008 to be her last day as city councilwoman.*
December 3, 2007: Davis officially files to run for state Senate district 10, the first day candidates are allowed to file.
December 18, 2007: Joel Burns wins a special election runoff to replace Davis on the city council.
December 31, 2007: Three Fort Worth firefighters deliver a letter to then- Tarrant County Democratic Party chairman Art Brender calling on the party to disqualify Davis from running because she is still a Fort Worth City Council member. Brender asks the Texas Secretary of State’s office for an opinion.
January 1, 2008: Joel Burns is sworn in to the Fort Worth City Council in his home by a retired appellate judge. Is is a week earlier than Burns was originally scheduled to be sworn in. Davis' campaign spokesman says that Davis had sent a letter to Mayor Mike Moncrief and the city council notifying them she was ready for Burns to take over her seat on the city council.
Jan. 2, 2008: The Secretary of State’s office declines to give an opinion on Davis candidacy saying state law is unclear on the issue. Brender denies the firefighters' challenge to Davis' candidacy. Davis withdraws and refiles her candidacy with Brender.
January 8, 2008: Joel Burns is sworn in a second time at a Fort Worth City Council meeting. Fort Worth attorneys refuse to publicly say which swearing-in was valid or whether Burns or Davis represented District 9 on the city council between January 1 and January 8.
January 11, 2008: Three Fort Worth firefighters file a lawsuit asking the Texas State Supreme Court to end Davis' candidacy.
January 23, 2008: The Second Court of Appeals rules that the three firefighters do not have legal standing to challenge Davis' eligibility. Rather, only a political opponent has the legal standing.
February 5, 2008: State Sen. Kim Brimer declines to respond to a question from the Star-Telegram about whether he will file a lawsuit challenging Davis' candidacy. “The firefighters have to decide what they're going to do,” Brimer said. “They're the ones that have the action going, and I'm going to respect what they're doing at this time.”
July 3, 2008: Brimer files a lawsuit challenging Davis' candidacy.
[*This information is according to the lawsuit filed by Brimer today.]
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