Southlake Republican booted off ballot for Texas House. She alleges conspiracy.
A Republican from Southlake running for the Texas House has been deemed ineligible to appear on the March primary ballot because she used the wrong form to file her candidacy.
Zee Wilcox, one of three Republicans in the House District 98 race, said Thursday she has appealed the decision made by Tarrant County GOP Chair Tim Davis and on Friday her campaign said it’s considering legal action.
She also accused Davis of spreading false information about her and is alleging a conspiracy to stymie her run.
House District 98 covers Colleyville, Grapevine, Keller and Westlake, as well as parts of Euless and Southlake. The other two GOP candidates are Armin Mizani, who is mayor of Keller, and Fred Tate, a Colleyville businessman.
The district is currently represented by Giovanni Capriglione, a Southlake Republican who isn’t seeking reelection.
Wilcox filed to run for office on Dec. 8, the last day to do so. She said her $750 filing fee was cashed and the application was notarized and accepted. But, she said, she was informed Dec. 16 that a precinct chair was challenging her candidacy, in part because Wilcox used a form for federal candidates instead of one for state offices.
According to emails shared with the Star-Telegram, Wilcox asked for an opportunity to fix the issue and sought confirmation that she would appear on the ballot when early voting begins Feb. 17. Wilcox said she did not receive a reply.
This week, Davis — a lawyer who was elected GOP chair in November — sent Wilcox an email saying he was declaring her ineligible to run in the primary, as her application “does not comply with the statutory requirements for a state house candidate.”
She asked the Texas Secretary of State’s Office to weigh in on the matter, but was informed that they do not have the authority to conduct an appeal or overturn the county party’s decision, according to Wilcox’s campaign. The campaign is considering filing a lawsuit to preserve her place on the ballot.
Wilcox has also sent Davis a cease and desist letter demanding that he not share “false, misleading, or materially incomplete statements” about her candidacy. He responded to her by email saying “I haven’t made any false statement and your demands are baseless.”
In an interview with the Star-Telegram on Thursday, Wilcox said she didn’t understand why she wasn’t allowed to fix her error.
“I’ve never done this before – my first time – but I would assume that if I didn’t get the exactly correct form number, that they would tell me right there as they’re accepting my application,” Wilcox said.
Wilcox, who runs a small health and beauty business, moved to the United States and became a citizen after growing up in communist Czechoslovakia, according to her campaign biography. She sees her removal from the ballot as political retaliation by powerful Republicans in Tarrant County to keep her from winning the seat.
“I have a hard time believing this is happening in this country,” she said, later adding “these elections are now selections. They’re not elections, and I wasn’t selected by them, so therefore I need to be forcibly removed.”
Davis addressed the issue in a Thursday Facebook post. He declined to comment further in an email to the Star-Telegram.
“Given the matter, I will keep the details to a minimum, but the issue is pretty simple: Ms. Wilcox filed for a state office using a federal form,” Davis said. “The forms are different, and the duty is on the candidate to ensure her filing complies with the law.”
Davis said he evaluated the candidacy challenge and sought counsel.
“Ms. Wilcox had the opportunity to respond and she did,” Davis said. “This was not the result of some vast conspiracy, despite whatever Mrs. Wilcox wants to allege. Instead, it’s the outcome of choices she made with her filing. The rule of law matters in the TCGOP, and we believe election integrity begins with the very first step in the process: when our candidates file for office.”
The Texas Secretary of State’s office did not immediately return an email seeking comment.
Two Democrats are also running for House District 98. The primaries are March 3; the winners will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot in Texas’ general election.
This story was originally published January 8, 2026 at 7:01 PM with the headline "Southlake Republican booted off ballot for Texas House. She alleges conspiracy.."
