All three candidates running for election as judge of the Texas 282nd District Court allegedly owe fines for failing to report their campaign donors in time, according to reporting by The Dallas Morning News.
Amber Givens, Andy Chatham, and Teresa Hawthorne are three Democratic candidates who will face off in the March 1 primary for the felony court bench. With no Republican running for the position, whoever wins the primary election on March 1 effectively wins the race.
Texas law requires that candidates report their campaign fundraising to the state and voters. However, deadlines to report campaign finances are sometimes not met due to the law’s weak enforcement.
Givens, the incumbent who currently presides over the 282nd District Court in Dallas County, is reported to owe $500 for late filings as of November 10, which was the last time the Texas Ethics Commission updated its list of defaulters.
The judicial candidate last reported her campaign contributions in July 2021, even though she has had two further reports due since, per The DMN.
Givens plans to explain the reasons for her late filings to the Ethics Commission, according to her campaign manager Deneen Robinson’s statement to the press.
Hawthorne, who was previously a judge for the 203rd District Court, is said to owe the state $33,000 for her late filings with the commission.
According to The DMN, a Travis County judge ruled that Hawthorne owes Texas over $32,000 in administrative penalties and $2,400 for the state’s legal fees in August 2021, after the Office of the Attorney General sued her.
However, Hawthorne told the press she was under the impression she was not required to make the payment. She provided evidence of a written communication with an attorney in the Attorney General’s Office dated May 13, 2019 showing the lawyer agreed not to pursue an injunction against her if she filed her reports late.
She revealed that her late fillings were a result of computer complications.
As of November 2021, Chatham apparently owed $5,800 in state fines. Chatham claimed his late filing was due to a mistake.
Chatham filed a campaign report with the state after he thought he might run for another position following his failed re-election bid for 282nd District Court in 2014. Though he did not run for the election, he was still required to file reports since he submitted a campaign treasurer report.