State Rep. Harold Dutton said Thursday he has hired a private investigator to look into the candidacy of Natasha Ruiz, an opponent who forced him into a runoff despite never establishing a presence in the race.

Dutton, a Houston Democrat and one of the longest serving members of the Texas House, said he may contest the result of the election depending on what the investigation yields. None of Ruiz’s three opponents — Dutton, Houston Councilman Jerry Davis and transportation logistics executive Richard Bonton — have ever seen Ruiz or found any evidence that she had a campaign.

The news, first reported by ABC 13, comes after Dutton finished first in the four-candidate primary for House District 142, which covers parts of northeast Houston and Harris County, including Fifth Ward and Kashmere Gardens.

Dutton got 45 percent of the vote, about 20 points ahead of Davis. Ruiz finished third with 20.5 percent, while Bonton finished last with 9 percent.

Dutton and Davis are facing off in a May 26 runoff because no candidate received a majority of the votes.

Bonton, who drew 35 percent of the vote as Dutton’s sole challenger in 2018, expressed dismay over Ruiz’s candidacy and said that he was also investigating the situation.

“It seems odd to me that somebody that's never been seen on the campaign trail all of a sudden mysteriously pops up,” Bonton said. “Not a yard sign, not a speech, not an event, a forum, nothing. A campaign of nothingness has resulted in 21 percent.”

Ruiz could not be reached for comment Thursday, and the Chronicle was unable to contact her at any point during the primary. She never established a campaign website or filed a campaign finance report after designating her campaign treasurer — a required step before paying the $750 filing fee.

Ruiz’s treasurer report, obtained through an open records request, lists her full name as Natasha Demming Ruiz, with an address in northeast Houston near Brock Park Golf Course. Voter registration records show a Natasha Nicole Demming listed at the same address.

The county clerk and Harris County Appraisal District do not list any property owned by a Natasha Ruiz in their respective databases. DJ Ybarra, executive director of the Harris County Democratic Party, said Ruiz filed her paperwork in person with the party and produced a driver license to verify her identity, though the party did not keep a copy of the license on file.

The number listed for Ruiz on her treasurer report went unanswered, and the phone number listed for the treasurer, Hector Riveria, has been disconnected.

Davis said he was not interested in talking about Ruiz’s candidacy and is instead focused on beating Dutton in the runoff.

“The validity of this candidate should have been questioned long ago,” Davis said. “And so right now, the people have spoken, 55 percent of the people have cast their ballot for change in the representative. And now my job is to go out and consolidate that percentage.”

Dutton has never been forced into a runoff since winning the seat in 1984. He has drawn a total of five Democratic and two Republican challengers his entire career, and his 30-point win over Bonton in 2018 was his narrowest victory since 1986.

For now, Dutton said he has not made up his mind about contesting the election result. He said Ruiz’s votes would not be counted if she were declared ineligible.

The Texas Election Code, however, appears to contradict that claim, stating that a candidate who is declared ineligible more than a day after the filing deadline”shall be placed on the ballot and the votes cast for the candidate shall be counted and entered on the official election returns in the same manner as for the other candidates.”

“I don't want anybody to ever be in a position of having their vote just be thrown away,” Dutton said. “That is offensive to me. But at the same time, if a fake candidate gets on the ballot, that sort of attacks the whole democratic process.”

jasper.scherer@chron.com