Mineral Wells Area News

By Amy Bearden / Mineral Wells Area News

One local political party leader has drawn a line in the sand.

“Enough is enough,” said Carla Schoonover-Porter who serves as the Palo Pinto County Democratic Party Chairperson and is a member of 134 PAC.

Court documents filed May 28th in US District Court indicate Schoonover-Porter has filed a Federal complaint, suing local individuals for voter intimidation in Palo Pinto County and seeks an injunction against three individuals after recent elections in Mineral Wells.

The filing states:

The 134 PAC LLC, and CARLA SCHOONOVER, individually and in her capacity as Democratic County Chair of Palo Pinto County, Texas, Plaintiffs request injunctive relief against the Defendants Terry Lann Murphy II, Brandon Johnson, and Russell Hess from
engaging in voter intimidation in violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in Palo Pinto
County.”

The attorney handling the filing for Schoonover & 134 PAC, Jon Mark Hogg, indicates the defendants were initially sent a cease & desist letter.

“We wrote to each defendant and asked that they commit to not repeating the sort of voter intimidation they participated in at the County Annex during the recent primary and municipal elections,” stated Hogg. “Since they did not respond to this request, we can only assume that they have every intention of doing the same thing again in future elections. Therefore, we had no choice but to file suit and seek an injunction against them from the court,” he wrote.

When Mineral Wells Area News asked the purpose for the Federal complaint, Hogg elaborated.

“The end goal is to stop all forms of voter harassment and intimidation in Palo Pinto County.   Everyone has the right to vote free of harassment and intimidation whether you are Republican, Democratic, Libertarian, or Independent.”

Hogg said the next step is for the Defendants to be served with a summons, requiring them to respond to the lawsuit. 

The following paragraphs in italics are exact words from the legal document filed which outlines the Plaintiffs concerns and facts of the complaint.

“Defendants are individuals who organize and advocate for far-right political candidates and causes in Palo Pinto County. While they identify as Republicans, they actively advocate and campaign against incumbent Republican officials and candidates in the Republican Primary that they deem to be RINOs (Republicans in Name Only). They also actively advocate and campaign against incumbent officials and candidates in non-partisan races that, in their view,are not sufficiently compliant or in sympathy with their positions or right-wing political beliefs.

They are also openly hostile against persons who they deem to be Democrats, and persons they claim are Democrats they think are running as Republicans. They accuse Democrats of being corrupt, running the county, and stealing elections in Palo Pinto County although no Democraticcandidate has been elected in Palo Pinto County in decades. They have a long history of posting insulting, harassing, threatening, and intimidating social media posts about various individuals, as well as about local politics in Palo Pinto County, the State of Texas and the United States.

The County Annex is the main polling place in the City of Mineral Wells for early voting and voting on election day. During elections in previous years these individuals engaged in electioneering at the County Annex building in Mineral Wells during early voting and on election days. But this year they crossed the line from lawful electioneering into voter intimidation at the polling place and violations of various state election laws. Starting with the primary election on March 5, 2024, the Defendants, acting individually and collectively began a campaign of harassment, abuse and intimidation of voters seeking to cast their ballots at the County Annex. They harassed and sought to intimidate those who disagreed and opposed them in the Republican Primary. This harassing, abusive and intimidating conduct continued during the following municipal election on May 4, 2024.

During these two elections, the conduct they engaged in included, but was not limited to the following:

• Parking large RVs and fifth wheel trailers covered in political signs and various flags identified with right wing politics, taking up a large swath of parking spaces, making voting inconvenient and difficult for voters, causing congestion, creating a domineering physical presence at the annex and loitering there throughout the election day.
• Watching and filming people coming to the Annex during voting.
• Filming the entrance to the polling place from beyond the 100-foot distance marker throughout the day and filming the entrance while standing within the 100-foot distance marker and making scenes at the entrance to the Annex as people were attempting to come vote.
• Wearing prohibited electioneering t-shirts and buttons to vote within the 100-foot distance marker and electioneering inside the 100-foot distance marker in violation of state law. Confronting people who arrived to vote by meeting and blocking them at their car door so the person would have to listen to them, and standing in the door of the car so people could neither exit the vehicle easily, nor close the door.
• Refusing to leave people alone by following and arguing with people through the parking lot up to the door of the Annex.
• Using foul language and ridiculing people who did not agree with them, calling them commies, fascists, and other such insults.
• Harassing members of the news media who were there to report on the election.
• Getting into verbal and physical altercations with people from opposing campaigns.

Defendants created an atmosphere of chaos and intimidation at the Annex during early voting and on election day. In fact, the Mineral Wells Police and County Sheriff have been called to the annex on more than one occasion during these elections. Voters have been intimidated and deterred by the Defendants from exercising their right to vote. Because of this behavior and the environment around the County Annex both during the primary and the municipal election, at least one voter was deterred from voting because she was afraid. Other voters were also intimidated, deterred, or discouraged from voting.

The actions of Defendants upset many persons in the community, became the talk
of the town and resulted in Palo Pinto County enacting, for the first time ever, electioneering rules for the County Annex to try to prevent voter intimidation. Nevertheless, the conduct
continued during the next election.”

134 PAC’s mission, which was cofounded by plaintiff Carla Schoonover-Porter, is to be a leading voice for Texas Democrats and rural county parties in Texas.

Schoonover-Porter recently demonstrated her ability to reach beyond party lines when she campaigned for Republican candidates in critical local elections. She is unable to speak on the pending litigation but there seems to be little doubt she is in this for the long game.

A link to the Full filing can be found here.