An attorney representing Texas state Senate special election candidate David Sibley asked Wednesday for the Texas Secretary of State’s office to declare his opponent, Granbury’s Brian Birdwell, ineligible.

Sibley’s attorney, Gardner Pate of Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell, said Birdwell — a native Texan who lived in Northern Virginia while working at the Pentagon — gave up his Texas residency when he registered to vote in Virginia.

Pate said Birdwell did not return to Texas in time to be eligible to run for the Senate seat.

Brian Birdwell (left), David Sibley (right)

The Texas Constitution requires candidates for Senate to have been Texas residents for at least five years.

Pate said he delivered a memo to the Secretary of State’s office that included records showing Birdwell voted in Virginia in 2004, 2005 and 2006 and applied for in-state fishing licenses there in 2006 and 2008.

On the voting registration and fishing license applications, Pate said, “Birdwell affirmatively swore that Virginia was his legal residence, and by doing that he gave up his Texas residency.”

Bill Crocker, a Birdwell supporter and Baylor University graduate with a law practice in Austin, said in an e-mail Birdwell maintained his Texas “residence while he was out of the state on military duty and for treatment of service-related injuries.”

“Families with loved ones in military service, and every patriotic resident of (Senate) District 22, should also be outraged,” Crocker said of Sibley’s challenge of Birdwell’s residency.

Members of the military are allowed to maintain their state residency while serving their country. Pate’s memo doesn’t question whether Birdwell was a resident during his time in the military. It focuses on the period after 2004 — the year Birdwell has said he retired.

Birdwell currently works as a public speaker for WallBuilders, an evangelical Christian group.

But he was working in the Pentagon when it was struck during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Birdwell survived the crash but was badly burned. Along with his wife, Mel, Birdwell started a ministry for burn victims and wrote a book titled “Refined by Fire” about his recovery.

Crocker’s e-mail defending Birdwell also questioned Sibley’s commitment to the conservative cause by pointing to donations Sibley, a former state senator, made to Democrats while working as a lobbyist in Austin.

“He’s played the game well, donating more than 200 times and over $112,000 to liberal Democrats,” Crocker said, listing several recipients, including state Rep. Jim Dunnam, D-Waco.

Crocker included a spreadsheet showing the donations. It did not include contributions Sibley has made to Republicans.

A Tribune-Herald review of state ethics commission reports confirmed that Sibley has given to Democrats but also showed that he’s given far more generously to GOP candidates and groups.

“David Sibley has a long, proven record as a conservative, and in this race he’s been endorsed by a number of prominent conservative Republicans, including former President George W. Bush, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples and U.S. Rep. Joe Barton,” Sibley spokeswoman Kirsten Voinis said.

Wednesday was the last day for candidates to file to run in the special election.

Other candidates for the seat include Waco’s Gayle Avant, a Baylor University political science professor, and Burleson’s Darren Yancy.

mshapiro@wacotrib.com

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