UPDATE:
A man convicted of murder has been cleared by the Austin City Clerk to run for City Council. City Staff explain the Clerk reviewed Lewis Conway Jr.’s paperwork with City Attorneys and found no documents saying he could not run for office.
Original:
With today’s deadline for those seeking public office in Austin on the November ballot, one candidate is turned back.
Lewis Conway, Jr. has been declared ineligible by the City Clerk for the City Council District One seat being vacated by Ora Houston. Conway, Jr. was convicted of murder in 1991 and served his sentence and got his right to vote restored.
The Statesman reports he’s currently a community organizer with the political action group Grassroots Leadership. Conway has until tomorrow to prove he has been pardoned or has “otherwise been released from the resulting disabilities” of his conviction. That language has never been tested in court.
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