Merritt files defamation lawsuit against opponent

By PATRINA A. BOSTIC
LONGVIEW NEWS JOURNAL

Friday, February 24, 2006

State Rep. Tommy Merritt has filed a defamation lawsuit against Mark Williams, his opponent in the March 7 Republican primary.

In a news conference at the Gregg County Courthouse, Merritt said television and radio ads as well as mailed campaign material from Williams' campaign contained "gross distortions and misrepresentations" of Merritt's voting record.

He challenged Williams' campaign claims that Merritt had passed only eight bills during his 10 years in the state Legislature.

"For example, the lies say I have only passed eight bills," Merritt said. "This is not true."

He said he's passed close to 200 bills.

"We hope that he will bring those ads down. We hope that Mark Williams and I will meet in a fair and open campaign debate after he apologizes to me and my family for what he's done," Merritt said.

Merritt said one of the things that led to the lawsuit is that he had gotten calls at home from constituents wanting Williams' ads to be pulled.