The Stanley-Harrison feud is over

The long running battle over Pasadena city council seat C is over. LeRoy Stanley has decided not to run for reelection and Don Harrison is unopposed. LeRoy Stanley has decided that the expense, time and aggravation involved in that seat is not worth it. Harrison is now unopposed in the upcoming May election.

The Harrison - Stanley election in May of 2005 ended in a tie and then a disputed run-off. The court case to decide the runoff went to the Texas Supreme Court and removed Harrison from the seat he was allowed to hold for months. That election itself was a rematch of the 2003 election after which Don Harrison lost a court case for making false statements in his political advertising.

Some people had urged Stanley's wife Diane to run for the seat when LeRoy indicated he had no desire for a rematch but after the experience of the elections and the court cases she said no thanks. The Stanley's legal and political expenses are believed to have totaled over $100,000 for a seat that pays $300 a month.

Last September, more than a year after the runoff election, Stanley finally took office after the long court battle. He had recently filed suit to determine if the election should be postponed because of the length of time Pasadena prevented him from taking his seat while appeals of the first judge's decision awarding him the seat made its way to the Texas Supreme Court.

Don Harrison is considered a possible candidate for mayor in 2008.

For more on the story see the report I wrote last September when Stanley finally took office.

Tags: Pasadena, Texas, politics, local, Don Harrison, LeRoy Stanley