A court hearing Tuesday will decide whether 351st District Judge George Powell of Houston has already lost his reelection bid after his filing fee for the Democratic Primary fell short by $1,000.

Because of the filing fee shortfall, the Harris County Democratic Party rejected Powell's application for the Democratic Primary in March. The judge filed a lawsuit to fight to get his name on the ballot.

The crux of the dispute is that Powell, who filed on the deadline of Dec. 9, 2019, paid $1,500 when he should have covered a $2,500 filing fee, court documents show. The party rejected his application the next day.

In his lawsuit against the party and its officials, Powell alleged that a party staff member told him incorrectly that his filing fee was $1,500. He argued that in this situation, state law required the party to give him an opportunity to cure the error, and place him on the primary ballot.

Kent Schaffer, partner in Schaffer Carter & Associates in Houston, said the defendants in depositions have admitted they made a mistake by telling Powell the wrong filing fee, and initially approving his application without spotting the error.

"The whole issue goes to whether they have to accept his application when they are the ones who provided the incorrect information," Schaffer said. "Whether it was done intentionally or negligently, the bottom line is incorrect information was provided."

The defendants' lawyer, Cris Feldman, partner in Feldman & Feldman in Houston, said the defendants deny Powell's allegations and oppose his request for a temporary injunction.

"It's the responsibility of all candidates to accurately and correctly file an application to be on the ballot," he said. "Otherwise, you get into a situation where county parties are having to use too much independent discretion and judgment calls, that could appear to illustrate favoritism one way or another."

In the lawsuit, Powell argued that the party's chair, Lillie Schechter, and secretary, Jennifer Halvorsen, were required by law to be at the location where candidates submit applications on the filing deadline. Powell claimed that they were not there, but if they had, they could have corrected their staff member's error.

Powell also claimed that at the time he was there, another judicial candidate couldn't pay her filing fee because the party doesn't accept debit cards, and she did not have a check. Powell helped her by writing a $2,500 check to the party to cover her filing fee. Later, her application was rejected because it was incomplete. Powell argued that the party could have applied the $2,500 check he wrote for her to his own filing fee.

George Powell Judge George Powell, of the Texas 351st District Court in Texas. Courtesy photo

Earlier in the case, Powell won a temporary restraining order to prohibit the party from printing primary ballots that omitted his name. The hearing on Tuesday will decide whether the court extends that relief in the form of a temporary injunction to force the party to allow him to cure his application and to place his name on the primary ballot.

If Powell loses his lawsuit, it would mean the only Democratic candidate for the 351st District Court is Natalia Cornelio. On the Republican side, Arlene Hecht is the only candidate.

Cornelio has intervened as a defendant in Powell's lawsuit to protect her interests. She denied all of Powell's allegations in her petition in intervention, and asked the court to deny Powell's requested relief.

Larry Veselka, co-founding partner in Smyser Kaplan & Veselka in Houston, who represents Cornelio, said she just wants to protect her interests.

"There are things the judge could have done differently to avoid the problem that he is in," said Veselka, noting that Powell could have filed his application earlier than the last day so he would have time to cure problems. "Whatever mistakes he made and whatever mistakes the judge claims that the county made, she didn't make any mistakes, and that should be taken into account. We're not saying what the result should be."

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