Local Republicans have hit a roadblock in their bid to unseat Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins in November.

Jenkins, a Democrat, filed a lawsuit Thursday to bar the Dallas County Republican Party from replacing its nominee for county judge on the November ballot after the original nominee dropped out in July.

Listed as defendants are local GOP chairwoman Missy Shorey, Dallas County elections administrator Toni Pippins-Poole and Brian Hutcheson, a local justice of the peace who was selected by Republicans to replace former Rowlett Mayor Todd Gottel as their candidate for county judge.

Gottel cited family and business as the reasons for his withdrawal in July. He was appointed precinct chair in order to give the party a valid reason to remove him as a candidate for county judge.

According to the state’s elections code, a party may fill a vacancy after a withdrawal only under certain circumstances: if the nominee suffers from a catastrophic illness, no one else from another party is running for that seat, or if the nominee has been elected or appointed for another “elective office” or nominated for another office.

Jenkins argued in his lawsuit that making Gottel a precinct chair doesn’t meet the legal requirements that would allow Republicans to replace him for the general election.

“According to case law and relevant Attorneys' General Opinions ... a precinct chair position is not an ‘office’ which would disqualify one from running for or holding another public office,” the lawsuit reads.

Last month, the Lone Star Project— a political action committee that aims to boost Democratic influence in Texas — issued the same argument when the Dallas County Republicans announced their move.

Shorey, the chairwoman of the local GOP, defended the party’s decision to replace Gottel. She said Thursday that the party had consulted with multiple election law experts, “all who feel this is a proper and legal move in order to have our candidate on the ballot.”

“It is unfortunate that Clay Jenkins thinks he doesn’t need to run for office,” she said, adding that “his way of essentially barely showing up for work he’s going to have to answer for.”

Jenkins couldn’t be reached for comment late Thursday.

He’s asking a Dallas County court to stop Shorey from certifying Hutcheson as the replacement nominee and to block Pippins-Poole from accepting him as the replacement. Jenkins is also requesting an expedited trial.

Pippins-Poole and Hutcheson couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday evening.

Hutcheson, a current justice of the peace for Dallas County Precinct 2, was originally running for re-election. His campaign ended after a judge ruled last month that he had only 245 signatures of the 250 required to get on the ballot, according to WFAA-TV (Channel 8). The news station reported that his petition included addresses that didn't exist, signed by people who couldn't possibly have lived there.