FORT WORTH -- The Texas Ethics Commission this week rejected a complaint filed against state Sen. Wendy Davis by her opponent in the hotly contested Senate District 10 race.
State Rep. Mark Shelton, R-Fort Worth, filed the ethics complaint this month against Davis, D-Fort Worth, for "not disclosing her business relationships with state lobbyists."The commission sent Shelton and Davis certified letters this week saying the complaint doesn't meet "legal and technical form requirements.""We are not surprised at all and recognized the complaint as a dishonest political stunt from the outset," said Anthony Spangler, a spokesman for the Davis campaign. "Mark Shelton must hide a failed record that includes votes to block lifesaving cancer screening to hundreds of thousands of women in Texas."Shelton campaign spokesman Clayton Stewart said that changes are being made to the complaint and that it is being resubmitted."It's a technical correction we have to make, and we've been told if we fix it, they will accept the filing," he said. "This is just Wendy trying to spin it and divert attention from her corrupt background."Part of the problem, according to the commission's letter, is that each sworn complaint must include a properly completed affidavit."If the complaint is based on information and belief, the complaint must state the source and basis of the information and belief," the letter says. "The affidavit you provided does not state the source and basis of the information and belief."Davis and Shelton are locked in a contentious race for Senate District 10, which includes part of Fort Worth, Arlington, Mansfield, Colleyville, and other areas of south and Northeast Tarrant County.This is one of the most-watched political fights in Texas.Republican leaders in Congress and statewide stand with Shelton in his effort to reclaim the district for the GOP.Democrats statewide stand with Davis in her quest to serve another four years.In 2008, in another fierce battle, Davis unseated longtime Republican state Sen. Kim Brimer of Arlington.In Shelton's complaint, he alleges that Davis didn't disclose two of the three employees of her law firm who lobby for "subject matter" interests that overlap committees that Davis serves on."It is unethical for state Sen. Wendy Davis to be hiding her business relationships with lobbyists," Shelton said when filing the complaint. "Especially when these same lobbyist connections are directly linked to Davis using her public office for self-enrichment through lucrative public contracts she has steered to her own law/lobby firm."Workers at the Texas Ethics Commission have said the complaint process is confidential.In general, they have said, workers determine whether the complaint was filed correctly, give the target of the complaint time to respond and determine whether to investigate the claim.A call from the Star-Telegram to the commission was not returned late Friday.Anna M. Tinsley,817-390-7610Twitter: @annatinsley
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Shelton refiles ethics complaint against Davis
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