A former El Campo city council candidate is suing a once business rival claiming defamation based on social media comments and the owner has filed a counter suit. Both cases are pending and no hearing dates have been set thus far. Keith Murphy filed to run as an at-large El Campo city council candidate in last May’s election, saying he had plans that could lower municipal taxes. He claims that J’s Patio owner Jessica Smithwick made defamatory statements on a popular El Campo social media site, comments that contributed to his business Pin High Sports Bar’s demise.