Candidate who lost by 2 votes challenges 3 ballots in Fort Worth suburb
A candidate for the Westworth Village City Council who lost by two votes has filed a lawsuit alleging that three votes were illegal.
Micheal Bachand, who lost the May 2 election to represent Place 4 to Robert Fitzgerald, filed the lawsuit on May 13 in Tarrant County District Court.
The lawsuit claims that Kevin and Linda Wright both voted illegally because they don’t live in the city. Voting records show the Wrights cast votes using a Westworth Village address during early voting.
The lawsuit alleges the couple announced their move to Mansfield in a Facebook post in November 2025. Property records show the address of the home the Wrights used to vote on April 28 was sold on Oct. 20, 2025.
In an email, Kevin Wright declined to comment, but called the lawsuit by Bachand a “two year-long voter intimidation.”
The lawsuit also claims that a vote cast by Marilyn Veigel should be rejected because she died before the May 2 election. She voted April 20, and died on April 23, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office.
A spokesperson for the Texas Secretary of State said that if the voter was eligible and satisfied all the qualifications for voting at the time the ballot was cast, then it is treated as a valid vote.
The lawsuit claims that all three of the votes were from supporters of Mayor Kelly Jones, who “orchestrated support” for Fitzgerald.
Jones said that there was “no doubt” that he supported Fitzgerald, but that he doesn’t know who the Wrights or Veigel voted for.
“Its a shame when you challenge a vote of a woman who legally voted when she was alive. It seems wrong under any possible code of honor,” Jones said.
The lawsuit seeks Bachand to be declared the victor or for the city to conduct a new election and cover all costs. Jones said that he is confident that the election results will hold.
Efforts to reach Bachand were unsuccessful, and Fitzgerald did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
This is not the first election related contention in Westworth Village this month.
On May 15, City Council member Halden Griffith was charged with bribery for distributing boxes of pastries to potential voters. Though Griffith was not up for reelection, he was campaigning for was Bachand.
After hearing about this, Jones emailed Westworth Village residents, in which he wrote, “Among the most fundamental of those Constitutional rights is the right to free and fair elections.”
The bribery case is being reviewed by the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office.
“My hope is that as a community we can get more involved and provide that necessary oversight, so that these elected officials know that they cannot use this power for their own personal gain, because I think that’s what’s been happening,” Whitney Vaughan, a resident of Westworth Village said.
