A Texas politician brings his opponent's wife into the debate. Watch what happens next

Two candidates for Tarrant County district clerk almost came to blows during a meeting with the Star-Telegram editorial board Monday morning.

It happened when challenger Frank Palomino brought incumbent Tom Wilder's wife into the conversation, saying Wilder wasn't even legally married.

"You were divorced in March 1972. You're not married," he said.

"You're a lying dog," Wilder snapped back. "You bring my wife into this? I've been married since college."

Turns out, Wilder has been married to the same woman for some time, but the pair broke up for awhile in the early '70s. According to Wilder and county and state records cited on Ancestry.com, he and Charlene Rondeau married on Oct. 18, 1962, divorced for 10 months in 1972 and then remarried in December of the same year.

Palomino also accused Wilder of being a career politician, and said the office needs change.

For his part, Wilder accused Palomino of being a Democratic stalking horse to weaken him for the general election, noting that he previously ran for the office as a Democrat; he's now on the Republican ballot.

The exchanges grew so hostile that the candidates were escorted from the building separately at Wilder's request when the meeting ended, according to columnist Bud Kennedy.

Tom Uhler: 817-390-7662, @tomuh

This story was originally published January 22, 2018 at 5:12 PM with the headline "A Texas politician brings his opponent's wife into the debate. Watch what happens next."