Posted on 01/15/2004 7:39:52 PM PST by Tall_Texan
By APRIL CASTRO Associated Press
Veteran Democratic U.S. Rep. Martin Frost will announce plans Friday to challenge Republican incumbent Rep. Pete Sessions in a bid to preserve his congressional career.
Frost's current district in the Dallas-Fort Worth area was dismantled by GOP map-drawers earlier this year who were looking to put more Republican Texans in Congress.
A Democratic strategist confirmed reports, on condition of anonymity, that Frost will file to run in Congressional District 32. Reports were first published Thursday in The Dallas Morning News.
The district encompasses part of north and west Dallas, the largely Hispanic neighborhoods of North Oak Cliff and part of the heavily Republican Park Cities. Frost has traditionally been popular among Hispanic and black voters.
Observers say it will be an uphill climb for a Democrat, but, with a strong campaign, Frost could do well.
Congressional District 32 was "obviously drawn to be Republican, but it is a district in which a well-funded Democrat could do very well because of the way it's drawn," said Russell Langley, executive director of the Dallas County Democratic Party.
Langley said driving up the vote in those minority populations of west Dallas and North Oak Cliff would be key to a Frost victory.
"It would be a very hard fought campaign but a Democrat might be able to succeed," he said.
Sessions would not comment on the reports, saying he would address the issue when Frost makes his announcement. A Frost spokesman said an announcement would be made at 2 p.m. Friday in Dallas.
The filing period under the new map ends Friday.
Meanwhile, Democrat attorneys who oppose the GOP-drawn map have asked the U.S. Supreme Court for a stay, which would halt the new map from being used, pending their appeal of the map. The state filed their response to the request on Wednesday and a decision from the high court is expected this week.
The Republican-controlled Legislature approved new districts during a special session in October after months of partisan bickering and two out-of-state walkouts by Democrats. The new boundaries could give the GOP as many as 22 seats in the state's 32-member congressional delegation.
Sessions, R-Dallas, and Frost serve together on the influential House Rules Committee, but rarely agree on major legislation. Both are veteran fund-raisers, with Frost raising $1.7 million in the last election while Sessions amassed $730,000.
In other filings Thursday, Democratic Rep. Nick Lampson of Beaumont filed for candidacy in newly drawn district 2, which includes Jefferson County, part of Liberty County and part of Harris County.
Since 1996, Lampson had represented District 9, which moves to southern Harris County.
Some of the Republican candidates who have already filed to run against Lampson include former state District Judge Ted Poe and Clint Moore, a Houston area business executive and GOP party official.
But, wait---I thought they just got done arguing in Court that a RAT couldn't win in that district?
What I can't figure out is how all these dims are picking and choosing seats to run for. I thought you had to live in the district where you were running. Are they all moving their residencies around the state?
Correct.
Article I.Section 2
The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.
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HEMPSTEAD -- Two lifelong Waller County Democrats will seek their fifth terms in office this year as Republicans, lending momentum to the county's transformation from Democratic stronghold to growing GOP beachhead. Sheriff Randy Smith, 46, who has won his post handily over the past 16 years as a Democrat, and Tax Assessor-Collector Ellen Shelburne, 54, who has polled strongly as a Democrat over four terms, will campaign under the GOP banner this year.
Don't laugh yet. We've had several cases of vote fraud in SE Dallas in the last several elections, and there is no reason to think it can't happen in west and SW Dallas. The city is corrupt, and the firing of Chief Terrell Bolton was not enough to clean up the police dept. I imagine Frost has under the table 'hired' Al Lipscomb and his associates to work their 'magic'.
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