Judge Refuses to Throw Out Suit Against Perry

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ A judge has denied requests by Gov. Rick Perry’s campaign committee and the Republican Governors Association to dismiss former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Bell’s lawsuit.

The suit centers on more than $1 million in contributions Perry received in the 2006 election. Bell lost to Perry in that election.

The suit alleges that reporting errors made by the Perry campaign on campaign-finance reports kept the public from fully seeing the source of the contributions. Bell argues that the governors’ group didn’t follow proper state procedures in making the donation in the late stage of the race.

The defendants wanted state District Judge John Dietz to dismiss the lawsuit without a trial, but Dietz rejected those requests Tuesday.

Lawyers for Texans for Rick Perry and the Republican Governor’s Association said any filing errors were unintentional and didn’t break the law.

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