Dallas County commissioner candidate alleges opponent tried to pay him to quit race
A candidate for Dallas County commissioner said Wednesday that his opponent offered him money to drop out of the race, an allegation that he said has prompted an ethics investigation.
Stephen Stanley, a former Garland City Council member, said he filed a complaint with the state after feeling uneasy about the offer made in the fall by J.J. Koch, a Dallas lawyer. Stanley said he provided an audio recording of the telephone conversation to investigators, and plans to hold a news conference Thursday.
"I was disheartened that somebody would make that offer because in the political realm, you debate your different ideas and you stand on that," Stanley said. "To try to buy somebody out of a race is just beyond the pale."
Koch told The Dallas Morning News that he did offer to pay Stanley's campaign debts if he left the race. Koch said he saw the proposal not as a bribe to help his chances of winning but as a way to "act in a gentlemanly fashion." He said he had heard that Stanley had financial troubles and was already considering leaving the race to run for another seat.
Read more: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/dallas-county/2018/01/17/dallas-county-commissioner-candidate-alleges-opponent-tried-pay-drop-race
