Two of the four candidates gunning to replace former state Sen. Kip Averitt, R-Waco, defended themselves Monday against questions about whether they can legally hold the seat.

Lt. Col. (Ret.) Brian Birdwell and former state Sen. David Sibley, who expressed interest in the seat shortly after Averitt resigned last week, have been accused of failing to meet state residency requirements for service in the Senate.

Under the Texas Constitution, candidates are eligible to serve in the state Senate only if they have lived in the state for at least five years and in the Senate district they are hoping to represent for at least one year.

Brian Birdwell (left) and David Sibley (right) have been accused of failing to meet state residency requirements for service in the Senate.

The two men, along with Baylor University political scientist Gayle Avant and Burleson businessman Darren Yancy, have said they will compete in the May 8 special election to replace Averitt.

Time in Texas

Birdwell, a native Texan who now lives in Granbury, was working in the Pentagon when it was struck by a plane Sept. 11, 2001. He experienced severe burns but recovered and went on to become a motivational speaker.

He also started a ministry for burn victims with his wife.

A Hood County appraisal district employee said deed records show Birdwell and his wife purchased their Granbury home from a developer in November 2005. But whether the couple moved in immediately is not clear.

A post on Birdwell’s ministry’s Web site suggests he and his wife moved to Granbury in June 2007.

It reads: “Brian and Mel Birdwell moved to Granbury, TX in June 2007. They are making their home there with their Golden Retriever Hayley.”

The couple sold a house in Manassas, Va., a Northern Virginia suburb about 30 miles west of the Pentagon, a month earlier, according to property records.

A document from the Virginia Election and Registration Information System obtained by the Tribune-Herald shows Birdwell voted in the Nov. 7, 2006, general election in Virginia.

Maggie Moran, a spokeswoman for Birdwell, rejected the claim that Birdwell was ineligible for the Senate seat.

Without addressing the specifics of when Birdwell returned to Texas or whether his voting history disqualified him, Moran’s statement called Birdwell “a lifelong Texan” and noted that any time he spent living outside the state Birdwell was either “serving his country” or “receiving medical treatment for wounds received while serving his country.”

Homestead exemption

On March 13, a Bosque County blogger affiliated with Burleson Republican Darren Yancy’s campaign noted that in 2009, Sibley had claimed a homestead exemption on his Austin house.

Sibley worked as a lobbyist after leaving the legislature and owns houses in both Waco and the state capital.

On his Facebook page, Yancy posted a link to the Bosque County blogger and remarked that Sibley “has a residency problem.”

Sibley’s campaign spokeswoman Kirsten Voinis disagreed.

“We’re very confident that (Sibley is) a McLennan County resident and would be recognized as such,” Voinis said Monday.

“For 19 years, he has lived in his current Waco home — the address printed on his driver’s license and voter registration card — and during that time he has voted continuously in McLennan County, including in the March 2 election,” she said.

Noting that property tax rates are higher in Travis County than they are in McLennan County, Voinis said Sibley had made a financial decision, but she added that it was a temporary move.

“For the 2010 tax year, he requested the exemption for his Waco home and fulfilled the requirements under the tax code,” she said.

A candidate’s residency status is not typically scrutinized unless someone mounts a challenge, and the court system is generally the arbiter in such cases, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s office.

Yancy told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Friday he doesn’t plan on filing a lawsuit challenging the eligibility of any of his opponents.

Avant said Friday he didn’t want to comment.

mshapiro@wacotrib.com

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