Posted on 06/25/2006 4:59:40 PM PDT by anymouse
The on-again, off-again procedure to find a Republican ballot replacement for Tom DeLay is on again.
At least for now. But it could be back off again as soon as Monday (more on that later).
Texas GOP Chairman Tina Benkiser’s office sent out a statement this morning saying U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks has denied a request by the state Democratic Party to extend a temporary restraining order that essentially froze DeLay replacement candidates in their tracks.
Benkiser faxed GOP chairs in Fort Bend, Harris, Brazoria and Galveston counties, asking that they schedule executive committee meetings quickly (more on that later, too).
At those meetings, one precinct chair from each county’s portion of Congressional District 22 will be elected by the other CD-22 precinct chairs. The four people elected will then form a so-called District Executive Committee and be charged with selecting a Republican candidate to replace DeLay on the ballot.
If the courts bless the process.
“In order to prevent further harm to the people of Texas caused by Democrats’ frivolous lawsuit and Democrat Nick Lampson’s fear of competition at the ballot box, it is critical that our county chairmen once again start moving forward in the process of electing a new Republican nominee so that the voters have a real choice in November,” Benkiser said.
Her statement prompted Lampson campaign manager Mike Malaise to say that “Nick Lampson has already beat the candidate they put up so far – the former House majority leader.” And, he added, Lampson “will beat whatever version of Tom DeLay mini-me they put up next.
“Tina Benkiser’s comments about Nick Lampson are completely dishonest and she knows it,” Malaise said. “Nick Lampson never filed a lawsuit of any kind against her party. The voters are in this situation for one reason and one reason only: Every time Tom DeLay can’t win a fair vote, he tries to change the rules and evade the law.”
Memory Lane
The reader may recall state Dems sued Benkiser the same day she declared DeLay ineligible to run on the general election ballot for Congressional District 22 – on June 8, the day before DeLay officially retired from Congress.
The suit, originally filed in Travis County District Court but since moved into federal court, attempts to force the Republican Party either to run DeLay again for the office he occupied for so many years or, as an alternative, to run nobody.
Travis County District Judge Darlene Byrne granted a temporary restraining order preventing the GOP from acting on Benkiser’s declaration that DeLay is ineligible. The Democrats argue that the U.S. Constitution must be used as a basis for determining congressional candidates’ eligibility.
Based in large part on the Democrats’ constitutional argument, Republicans were able to get the case moved into Federal court. Judge Sparks had allowed the temporary restraining order to continue in force, but it expired at midnight.
Democratic Party attorney Chad Dunn, of Houston’s Riddle & Brazil law firm, said his clients are asking Judge Sparks to follow the Texas Election Code, which says a candidate can’t be removed from the ballot without a full trial to argue the merits of such action.
“There’s a strong presumption that once a party places a candidate on the ballot, they stay on the ballot,” Dunn said.
In the interim, while the sides prepare for trial, the state Democrats want Judge Sparks to order the status quo be maintained. In other words, that Tom DeLay’s name remain on the ballot.
Needless to say, the GOP sees it differently, and is asking that the full trial the Democrats seek be held and completed on Monday.
Meanwhile, Fort Bend GOP Chairman Gary Gillen has scheduled an executive committee meeting for 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 5, at the Fort Bend County Courthouse Annex in Rosenberg.
“We need to be moving this process ahead,” Gillen said in something of an understatement. For her part, Benkiser wants the newly elected District Executive Committee to meet “on or about July 11.”
“Obviously, Democrat Nick Lampson and his party are afraid of any Republican on the ballot in November, and they will stop at nothing to keep Republicans from choosing a nominee,” Benkiser said Friday. “Allowing Lampson to continue campaigning and raising money while they abuse the court system is unfair to voters and an infringement on their rights.”
Speaking of Raising Money
Sugar Land Mayor David Wallace sent out an email detailing his fund raising efforts in his personal campaign to become DeLay’s ballot replacement.
“I wanted to let you know some remarkable news regarding my campaign. In the past 60 days I have been able to raise a considerable amount of money, and in the coming days I will surpass the $200,000 mark in contributions,” Wallace’s email says. “I have also secured an additional $800,000 in commitments and I will continue to aggressively raise money to prepare to defeat the $2.5 million war chest of the Democrats.”
Before Wallace’s email even hit my hard drive, the Lampson campaign had a press release ready.
“David Wallace is bragging about raising money he doesn’t have and winning a poll in which around 6 percent of people who received it responded. The fact is, in his first promise to voters, fund raising, Wallace has failed,” campaign manager Malaise said this time. “He hasn’t raised $1 million, and he doesn’t have $1 million in commitments. The last thing this district needs is one more politician prone to exaggeration or dishonesty. As for his attempt to get on the ballot in November, we’re pulling for him. It would be just like running against his mentor Tom DeLay.
“The Lampson campaign will not report fund raising numbers until they are official after the June 30th FEC reporting date,” Malaise said. “But $200,000 will not be in the same league as what our campaign reports.”
Malaise also took a shot at Houston City Councilwoman and congressional candidate Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, who he said has “flip-flopped” on immigration issues. Malaise said she had been in favor of funding Houston’s day labor center until her congressional campaign, “and now she doesn’t like them as much as she used to.”
Beg To Differ
Sekula-Gibbs said Friday she’s “honored to be considered a threat by the Lampson campaign.” She thinks “taking a position and voting against a day labor site is a good way for Houston to stand up and be counted in the immigration fight. And if Mr. Lampson suppoprts day labor sites, he should say it.”
In the past, Sekula-Gibbs said, many on Houston City Council, from both parties, supported the concept of a day labor center as a way to keep people looking for work concentrated in one place. But she said the concept didn’t work, and didn’t get day laborers off of the streets.
In addition, President Bush has spoken against employers hiring illegal immigrants, “so how can the city use federal money to support” people going against the president’s wishes?,” Sekula-Gibbs asked, adding “That’s wrong.”
Wallace called the Lampson campaign’s statements about his fund raising “silly,” adding, “as far as I’m concerned, this campaign has to begin now. The Democrats continue to raise money to fool the voters about Lampson’s record.
“The money I’m raising, and the commitments I’m receiving from my supporters are very significant,” Wallace said, “and will allow me to take the message to the voters about the sort of person Nick Lampson was in Congress before, and will continue to be if he’s ever allowed to go back.”
Malaise remained unrepentant.
The Republican candidates for the CD-22 ballot “are every bit as dishonest as Tom DeLay,” he maintained. “They’re just not as good at it.”
ping
(Denny Crane: "Every one should carry a gun strapped to their waist. We need more - not less guns.")
"Lampson campaign manager Mike Malaise"
A Malaise in the Democratic Party - who would've guessed ....
Texas GOP should get Specter to proclaim that NJ law applies in this situation.
Exactly. If the Torch could be replaced on the ballot. Texas should be able to get a replacement too.
To get an idea of how ludicrous this is, take a look at New Mexico where the GOP candidate for Governor stepped down last week and was quickly replaced without anyone batting an eyelash.
This lawsuit, along with the 'Rat attorneys, ought to be bounced out on their asses by the Judge tout de suite for wasting the court's time with this nonsensical farce.
From the ChronicleA U.S. Supreme Court decision that could come today will either create an instant hurricane in Texas' political climate or remove the clouds hanging over the fall elections.
At issue is a congressional redistricting plan that shifted six of the state's 32 House seats from the Democratic to the Republican column in 2004, giving the GOP a 21-11 majority in the state's U.S. House delegation.
" take a look at New Mexico where the GOP candidate for Governor stepped down last week and was quickly replaced without anyone batting an eyelash."
Same with the GOP candidate for state Auditor.
I don't think that Judge Sparks will rule in favor of Delay and the Republicans. And I think that he will be right.
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