Posted on 02/25/2006 5:13:57 PM PST by SolidSupplySide
The re-election campaign mounted by Rep. Tom DeLay, the embattled former House majority leader, is shaping up to be one of the most expensive in this political cycle.
DeLay faces three other Republicans in the March 7 primary, although none has been able to raise the kind of cash needed to knock off the congressman.
Waiting in the wings, though, is Democratic challenger Nick Lampson, who has raised $1.6 million, or nearly half of the $3 million that DeLay has gathered in his bid to win a 12th term in Congress.
Nationally, DeLay is the top election fundraiser among House candidates, and Lampson clocked in at No. 6 on a list that includes House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and other notables, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Rep. Henry Bonilla, R-San Antonio, is No. 5, but he raised $1.7 million over the past year when eyeing a possible U.S. Senate bid that dissipated when Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, abandoned a run for governor.
Altogether, the race in the 22nd Congressional District of Texas, with DeLay and Lampson, is the most expensive in the country, said the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks the influence of money in Washington.
In the GOP primary, DeLay faces Tom Campbell, Pat Baig and Michael Fjetland.
Campbell has vowed to spend $400,000 on the primary race. He could become a late threat.
"I would think they are taking Campbell very seriously," said Richard Murray, director of the Center for Public Policy at the University of Houston.
If DeLay fails to win the primary without a runoff, or wins with less than 60 percent of the vote, he would be considered vulnerable in the general election against Lampson, political experts say.
DeLay benefits from a money advantage and "a short-fuse primary" that goes off in less than two weeks.
Political experts are watching to see if disgruntled Democrats cross over in the primary to vote against DeLay, delivering a punch to the congressman who later this year faces a court appearance on charges of money laundering in a campaign scheme.
New mudbath
Meanwhile, across the state, the battle is brewing among three Democrats seeking to represent a border congressional district that stretches north to San Marcos and takes in San Antonio's South Side.
Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, faces former Congressman Ciro Rodriguez of San Antonio and Crandall schoolteacher Victor Morales, who grew up in the Pearsall area.
So far, the battle has been a mud bath, with Rodriguez and Morales accusing Cuellar of being a closet Republican and Cuellar charging that Rodriguez has violated federal laws on lobbying.
Morales, meanwhile, has been left out of a debate in San Antonio sponsored by the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and a candidate's forum held by a Democratic women's club.
While Morales claws his way into the race, late fundraising efforts by Democratic grass-roots organizations have helped Rodriguez become competitive in the race for the seat he lost in 2004.
MoveOn.org, the Daily Kos, Democracy for America and the AFL-CIO have raised money for Rodriguez's campaign, while the Club for Growth, a conservative group, and business organizations have sided with Cuellar, who still has the advantage in cash.
But the race has tightened, according to political experts.
Both campaigns began airing negative television ads this week as early voting began. Rodriguez, running from behind, went on the attack first.
"Cuellar had a significant financial advantage, but the voting could be very regional," Murray said. "I think the advantage lies with Rodriguez, despite the financial disadvantage, because Democrats are very charged."
Turnout is considered the key, and nothing that occurred last week has convinced Larry Hufford, a political scientist at St. Mary's University, that Rodriguez will get the votes in Bexar County to overcome Cuellar's support in Laredo.
"The first couple of days of early voting, the turnout, hasn't knocked the socks off of anybody," Hufford said.
I agree. As of now, I don't think DeLay has done anything wrong, but he does appear to be a liability to the party, and especially without him as Majority Leader, he's not necessary to the movement.
I'm happy he's someone else's problem
Even the most partisan Democrat knows deep down that those charges against DeLay are phonier than board game money.
Doesn't have the leadership or the toughness.
"Rep. Campbell, who took over disgraced Tom DeLay's seat, is now facing questionable charges of his own..." < /Future MSM headline >
Everybody is vying to be the next career politician.
That doofus still hasn't realized that voters DON'T like him?!
He's like a Chicano version of Mark Green.
Just give it up already.
In what alternate universe?
DeLay has more support, both in votes and financial than Campbell or the other 2 candidates could hope to bring to bear in the Primary and in the General election. DeLay is a known quantity with District 22 voters. Lampson is a known quantity (mostly bad) in the newer parts of District 22.
George Soros and other well healed Democrats are piling money on Lampson's campaign (and possibly on Campbell's through cutouts.) Campbell or the others can't possibly raise the kind of money to go toe-to-toe with Lampson's war chest.
If a bunch of Dems try to swamp the Republican Primary to steer it towards one of DeLay's opponents, they will only boost the Republican Primary turnout numbers and still DeLay will win the Primary and Runoff election. There just isn't a ground swell of support for one of the other candidates.
And so you know, maui_hawaii started that thread, slandering Tom DeLay for not showing up for a meeting and promising to do so. Well, it turns out that it would have been silly for him to do so.
"I can't believe I'm rooting for a Dim, go Cuellar go."
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