Southlake Republican to stay on state House primary ballot after legal battle
Zee Wilcox, a Southlake Republican candidate for a state House seat, will officially keep her spot on the March 3 primary ballot after a lengthy legal dispute with the Tarrant County GOP.
The two sides came to an agreement Wednesday to drop legal action against each other.
Tim Davis, chair of the Tarrant County GOP, attempted to remove Zee Wilcox from the primary ballot in January, saying Wilcox did not properly file her election forms. Wilcox later sued Davis, saying she should have been given the opportunity to remedy her errors. She has not been able to participate in candidate forums and debates during the legal battle.
Wilcox will face Colleyville businessman Fred Tate and Keller Mayor Armin Mizani in the Republican primary on March 3. The winner will face the Democratic nominee in November.
“I’m trying to put this all behind me, but it’s hard,” Wilcox told the Star-Telegram. “It cost me one month of campaigning. I don’t have signs, I had to cancel orders because I wasn’t even sure I would be on the ballot. In one way, my campaign got stronger because so many people didn’t like what was done to me but on the other hand I was set back by a month.”
A Tarrant County judge ruled in favor of Wilcox keeping her spot on the primary ballot on Jan. 15, but said he “struggled” to decide the best course of action. Before Wilcox and Davis dropped litigation, a more permanent resolution was expected to be considered in a North Texas appellate court. Wilcox represented herself in court.
“I don’t know if I can ever recover,” said Wilcox, who runs a health and beauty business, during court hearings last month.
Wilcox first sued Davis on Jan. 9, claiming Texas election law was violated and that her candidacy was valid. She has continued to say invalidating her candidacy is a result of political retaliation. Davis said the decision on his end was “not the result of some vast conspiracy.”
Wilcox filed to run for office on Dec. 8, and was alerted on Dec. 16, after the filing deadline, that a local precinct chair was challenging her application to run for the House seat. She offered to fix the issues but did not hear back, she said.
On Jan. 7, Davis emailed Wilcox saying he was listing her as “ineligible for the Republican primary ballot.” He said the next day in a Facebook post that Wilcox had filed for a state office using a federal form.
A copy of the application previously provided to the Star-Telegram showed that Wilcox did turn in a federal office application. She listed Texas House District 98 as the office, and the form was accepted. Because a federal form was filed, her application was missing important details, like a required statement acknowledging state nepotism law, according to attorneys for Davis.
Tom McDonald, an attorney representing Davis as chair of the local Republican Party, told the judge last month that without the nepotism acknowledgement, their hands were tied, and they had no choice but to reject Wilcox’s application. He also argued that it is a candidate’s responsibility to comply with the law and the error falls on Wilcox.
Davis said in court he has no personal feelings or animosity toward Wilcox and was not interested in affecting the outcome of the House race.
Wilcox now suing State Rep. David Cook, alleging he altered documents while serving as attorney
Wilcox is now suing state Rep. David Cook, who represented her as an attorney in a family-law proceeding against her ex-husband in July 2024, for up to $1 million. Wilcox claims Cook, a Mansfield Republican, altered a Rule 11 agreement document that included her signature without her review, and was never informed of changes made afterward.
The lawsuit states that Cook breached his duties under Texas law by failing to inform her that a materially different document was being used. Wilcox claims Cook’s “wrongful conduct” has resulted in out-of-pocket legal expenses, unnecessary legal fees, and consequential losses.
If the alteration of documents were not intentional, Wilcox is still arguing that it would still be professional negligence and a competent Texas attorney should never allow a client-signed document to be altered or reused without explicit consent.
Wilcox said she reported the lawsuit and situation to the State Bar of Texas. Cook did not immediately respond to request for comment about the lawsuit.
