Fort Worth City Council candidate who robbed pair at gunpoint in 1999 ruled ineligible
After drinking nearly half a fifth of Southern Comfort whiskey at a Seattle club in 1999, Erik Richerson, then 17, robbed a couple of $160 using an unloaded 9-mm handgun.
On Friday, the Fort Worth City Secretary’s Office declared that because of his felony conviction in the crime, Richerson, a candidate for the District 9 city council seat, was ineligible.
City Secretary Mary Kayser said that on April 9, a packet was delivered to her office that included certified copies of documents from the Superior Court of Washington related to the Richerson robbery case in Snohomish County. Other information was provided to Kayser’s office on Friday. Kayser did not say who delivered the material.
District 9 includes downtown and parts of south and central Fort Worth.
On April 27, after this story first published, Kayser said she reviewed documents from a Washington judge that made Richerson was eligible for the ballot.
Richerson, now 39, was with another assailant when he robbed the victims at an apartment in August 1999, according to a probable-cause affidavit supporting the robbery charge. The other assailant told a law enforcement officer that he and Richerson went to the apartment to buy marijuana.
“Yeah, you got jacked [expletive],” Richerson said before leaving, according to the affidavit. He and two men were arrested as they drove from the apartment. Richerson pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery. He was sentenced to about 7 1/2 years in prison.
Richerson wrote in a statement to the Star-Telegram that the city had improperly determined that he was ineligible and that he looked forward to the city reinstating his eligibility.
“I am disappointed that the city would rule me ineligible at 5 p.m. on the Friday before early voting starts without giving me due process to provide my facts. The city had confirmed my eligibility earlier in the week, and the new information the city received was not sufficient for the city to reverse. The fact is I am a registered Texas voter and have voted as recently as November 2020. Furthermore, I was eligible to run for office when I did so in 2015 in the state where I served my time.”
Richerson wrote that his campaign was “about being an example and inspiration for young African-American men who are disproportionately incarcerated and affected by the criminal justice system. I am a living example that no life is beyond redemption. I’m not running from my past; I’m running on it. I am now a devoted husband, loving father, owner of two successful small businesses, and a worship leader in my church.”
The Texas Election Code is a bit vague on the matter of candidate criminal history.
State law prohibits people with felonies from running unless they have been pardoned or had their full citizenship rights restored, but does not specify all means by which felons can restore them. The code says candidates must be pardoned from their felonies or “otherwise released from the resulting disabilities.” Lawmakers have in recent years proposed clarifying or eliminating the line.
Another District 9 candidate, Darien George, said on Tuesday that he would withdraw from the race after he faced criticism for aggressive behavior that included directing a profanity at another candidate after a Near Southside forum. George said he had faced harassment of his own.
Kayser said it is too late to remove either candidate’s name from the May 1 ballot.
Richerson is the second local candidate whose arrest record has jeopardized a bid for office this year.
In Arlington, mayoral candidate Jerry Warden was kicked of the ballot last week after opponent Jim Ross lodged a complaint. Warden has multiple felony convictions and a lifetime registration in the state’s sex offender registry. He told the Star-Telegram that his rights had been restored.
This story was originally published April 16, 2021 at 8:48 PM.
