Now that I have done further reading, I am ready to state my case that it is too late for Leah Lax to be placed on the Texas primary ballot as a Democratic Presidential hopeful.
Let's first start with the fact that the Presidential Primary in Texas is governed by Chapter 191 of the state elections law, not
Chapter 172. Under Chapter 191, qualified political parties in the state set their own party rules for the delegate selection process that takes place on primary day. The parties may set a deadline for filing an application with the party to be included as a Democratic contender, but the party filing deadline may not be any
later than than the regular filing deadline for candidates in the general primary election. (
Sec 191.002)
However, the filing deadline may be
earlier.
The state party prepared its Delegate Selection Plan and it was approved in March 2011. After the plan was prepared, Texas passed SB 100 in April of 2011. The Senate bill moved up the "regular filing deadline for candidates in the general primary election" to December 12, 2011. Under 191.002, this meant that the party's plan was amended by force of law and the filing deadline for applications to the state party was also accelerated to December 12, 2011. Subsequently, litigation in
Perez resulted in the court's order of November 7th, extending the "regular filing deadline for candidates in the general primary election" to December 15, 2011.
The most recent copy of the Delegate Plan indicates that the party also extended the internal filing deadline for applications to the party to December 15th. There is no indication that the party has or will extend it further.
President Obama submitted his application to the party on December 2nd.
To gain ballot access as a Democrat, Leah Lax must first convince the party to extend its filing deadline. Then, under the delegation plan she must submit the $2,500 fee and 5,000 signatures the party demands with each application. If she cannot do these things, she will not be a Democratic challenger on the ballot.
To summarize, court orders in
Perez to extend filing deadlines for offices other than President do not extend the party's internal deadline. However, the court order to move the primary from March 6 to April 3 may extend the date by which the party must submit its certified list of names for the primary ballot.