Posted on 08/13/2006 11:11:15 AM PDT by Clintonfatigued
Dog Gone, thanks for the plug.
The Republican Precinct Chairs in Congressional District 22 in the four counties making up CD 22 meet this Thursday Aug 17th to try to select one write-in candidate that Republicans can get behind.
The word is that the Party is prepared to put serious money behind one write-in candidate but will not do so if more than one write-in candidate is on the ballot.
Under Texas law County Elected Officials have to resign their position in order to run for another office. The law does not apply to city or state officials. However no candidate can be on the ballot twice, except for US Senator and President - the Lyndon Johnson rule.
Harris County Tax Assessor/Collector Paul Bettencourt has indicated he might be interested in being the write-in candidate, but he would have to resign his office. He would be the favorite if he stays in because of his name recognition in the Houston area and in Republican circles.
Steve Stockman's bid to be an Independent Candidate with 500 Petition signatures of voters in CD 22 was invalidated when the Sec. of State ruled he did not have 500 valid signatures. He has appealed and believes he may yet be on the ballot.
In addition to Bettencourt the other potential write-in candidates include David Wallace, Mayor of Sugar Land, who has already announced as a write-in candidate, Shelley Sekula-Gibbs Houston City Councilwoman, and Tim Turner, a former State Republican Executive Committeeman.
Under Texas law the voter only has to get some portion of the write-in candidates name correct in order for the vote to count. In addition the names of the write-in candidates will be in the voting booths. So Paul or Tim or Gibbs or David would work.
The Republican write-in Candidate selected may depend on which Precinct Chairs show up to vote Thursday. The candidate selected must receive the majority vote.
Bettencourt would be a strong candidate.
In the last round of redistricting I was moved out of District 22 by a few hundred feet, so I don't really get much of a say in DeLay's successor.
I don't know Wallace, although those here who do seem to dislike him a lot. Sekula-Gibbs does nothing for me. I think she's more suited for City Council.
I don't know that I've ever heard of Turner.
You may have declined my invitation to run for the 22nd district, but you're still my County Commissioner. The street right in front of my driveway has sunk and I generally have a standing puddle. Not today, of course. It's sidewalk egg-frying weather. Two neighbor kids that I know of have wiped out on it, slipping on the algae that has grown on the concrete street.
I've never asked you about it, although your predecessor routinely ignored me. Fix it, and I'll start the Andy Meyers for Govenor 2010 campaign. ;-)
The Dems have successfully screwed us in District 22 in all likelihood. I don't want to hear a damn thing about "disenfranchising voters" from their hypocritical mouths ever again.
Winning as a write-in candidate is difficult, but not impossible. And the district has a high literacy rate.
Quite true, they often have a nasty habit of holding onto seats that they shouldn't. Lampson did win 4 terms, but as soon as the lines were redrawn, he failed to win a 5th term. Aside from Chet Edwards, whom has remarkably managed to hold on despite clearly being too liberal for his heavily GOP seat, he has at least utilized a 16-year incumbency. In the case of Lampson, he'd be a freshman member in a district largely alien to him, and having to run for reelection in a GOP seat in a Presidential year will likely be his undoing.
Hopefully, this is all an academic exercise and the GOP will coalesce behind one write-in candidate. It still defies the imagination that a resigned member of Congress, one whom no longer resides in the state, nearly half-a-year before the next election, is ordered to remain on the ballot while in a certain other northeast state, they can openly DEFY state laws to allow a last minute switcheroo in a high profile Senate race. I get the distinct impression if DeLay were a rodent, all this nonsense now would NOT be happening.
Thanks for the info.
This is looking like a dog's breakfast.
There is a double standard: Republicans must be pure or get slammed by the law. Dems can be the Rats they are.
What I'm most worried about is a right-wing independent candidacy. Some of our voters will go for this, and in a climate like '06, we can't afford such nonsense, because we can't afford to lose this seat.
Yup, there is a double standard, I learned that 20 years ago when I became a Republican. That's the difference between the two parties: the GOP, which demands and is expected to have the highest standards possible (if not by its own members, but by the media looking for so much as a crack in the veneer), and the Democrat party, which has no standards whatsoever. Quite telling.
There will be at least two potential write in candidates at the meeting Thursday that can make a good show against the Dem's.
Tim Turner is a former SREC board member for SD 17, serves on the Texas Board of Medical Examiners and is a solid conservative. Gibbs will be able to also work with most solid conservatives better than others and is an aggressive campaigner.
Wallace has a ton of baggage (see any of the links listed below) and will get killed by any Democrat as unethical and potentially corrupt. His close ties with the Fort Bend County Republican Chairman, Gary Gillen, who just slammed most of the Repubilican leaders in the state and other counties involved in CD 22, probably sealed Wallace's fate as an extremely questionable character.
Fyi, Wallace got about 1/3 of the support of the executive committee precinct chairs in Fort Bend CD 22 in a bogus straw poll Gillen ran when Fort Bend held it's elector meeting a few weeks ago. So lots of baggage and way less than 1/2 the support of precinct chairs in his own county doesn't make Wallace look strong at all outside of his own social and business circles.
http://rhymeswithright.mu.nu/archives/192637.php
http://safety.websoaring.com/
www.fortbendnow.com/news/1689/gillen-urges-interested-gop-write-in-candidates-to-avoid-thursdays-private-meeting
I've heard these complaints about Wallace, but still see him as the lead candidate for this seat, regardless. Some of the allegations made against him in the "Rhymes with Right" piece are rather dated, to say the least (and some appear to be guilt-by-association).
Sekula-Gibbs is a non-starter, her record reads like a liberal Democrat, and I know little about Dr. Turner. Unless some magic candidate drops in out of the blue (I mean, are there no prominent judges or state legislators from this district ?), the party will have to unite behind Wallace or it will lose this seat, period.
"Misspelled names are acceptable. When Strom Thurmond was elected in 1954 in SC, officials accepted the spelling "Storm Thunder" in one case."
"Under Texas law the voter only has to get some portion of the write-in candidates name correct in order for the vote to count. In addition the names of the write-in candidates will be in the voting booths. So Paul or Tim or Gibbs or David would work."
The problem with any thought of "unifying" behind Wallace is that one of the reasons we are in this mess is accusations of ethical lapses, and Wallace's background makes Tom DeLay look like a choir boy.
I don't think lawsuits, defaults on loans where a contributor's company buys the loan and forgives it, accusations of conflicts of interest, and getting involved in political attacks against state Repbulican leaders and other county Republican leaders within the LAST 3 YEARS makes those issues dated.
Wallace has a huge amount of baggage which he is trying to hide, ala Bill Clinton, behind a massive PR and media hype campaign.
The only way to unify is to find a strong conservative with little baggage and if that means waiting til 2008, so be it. If we jump on board with a seriously tainted candidate, we're no different than the Dem's.
Good point. But it looks like Nick Lampson is going to win this one, barring a major change in the dynamics.
The Dems could and probably will recruit additional write-in candidates with similar names.
Last night (Thursday) the Republican Precinct Chairs in CD 22 voted overwhelmingly for Shelley Sekula-Gibbs (about 54 votes) in a straw poll, that is unofficial but sends the message that this is the candidate for Republican voters to support. Tim Turner came in second (with about 20 votes) and Wallace third (getting 4 votes) out of about 78 Precinct Chair votes (there are about 122 Precinct Chairs).
I don't think the Dems can come up with a Shelley Sekula-Gibbs and I am told that a voter can put in SSG and their vote will be counted for Sekula-Gibbs.
What a bunch of clowns. If things aren't straightened out very soon, this seat will go south on us. Typical Republican BS -- incapacity for self-sacrifice and team play.
Sugar Land mayor withdraws from (Congressional) race for DeLay's House seat
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-gop/1687524/posts
posted on 08/21/2006 12:17:14 PM AKDT by weegee
Why was this out-of-date article reposted when the TX GOP chose Sekula-Gibbs as the write-in candidate and Wallace withdrew days ago? Is someone trying to confuse the GOP voters on this forum? Inquiring minds want to know.
I posted an update to the article showing this was no longer a concern. I'm sorry if that confuses you.
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