Posted on 08/04/2006 8:39:35 AM PDT by Republican Red
GOP to fight DeLay ruling Republicans turn to Supreme Court after panel favors keeping him on the ballot
AUSTIN — Republicans turned to the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday as their last hope to get former U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay off the November ballot for the congressional seat he left almost two months ago.
Earlier in the day, the likelihood had increased that DeLay would have to actively campaign for the seat when the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Texas Republican Chairwoman Tina Benkiser did not have the authority to declare him ineligible for office because he had moved to Virginia.
DeLay could not be reached for comment.
A three-judge panel ruled in favor of the Texas Democratic Party, saying Benkiser had violated both state law and the U.S. Constitution in trying to replace DeLay on the ballot. Benkiser said she could not let that stand.
"The Republican Party of Texas intends to expeditiously appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court the 5th Circuit's decision to force Tom DeLay, an ineligible candidate for Congress, to stay on the ballot," Benkiser said.
Republican attorney James Bopp Jr. said the party will either ask the Supreme Court for a stay of the 5th Circuit's order or will ask the high court for an expedited appeal.
Bopp said a stay request would go first to Justice Antonin Scalia, who presides over the 5th Circuit. For the case to proceed, four justices would have to be willing to accept the appeal. In an expedited appeal, Bopp said either four justices could agree to take it up or it could be done on the authority of Chief Justice John Roberts.
"We would like for it to be resolved in August," Bopp said.
Bopp said the 5th Circuit's decision effectively gave the Texas Democratic Party control of who could run for the 22nd Congressional District seat.
"This is completely incomparable with a viable two-party system," Bopp said. "This makes a mockery of our democratic system and denies voters a meaningful choice."
Each party's aim Republicans want to replace DeLay on the ballot with a candidate prepared to win and serve in Congress for a district that includes parts of Fort Bend, Harris, Brazoria and Galveston counties. Democrats want DeLay to stay on the ballot because he is viewed as politically vulnerable and is a lightning rod they can use to raise funds.
DeLay fended off three challengers in the March GOP primary to win the nomination for re-election. Then in April, while under indictment and in the midst of a federal influence-peddling scandal, he announced he would resign from office and not seek re-election.
DeLay gave Benkiser documents showing he had declared his longtime condominium in Virginia as his home. He changed his voter registration, driver's license and hunting license, but Democrats noted he kept a home in Sugar Land.
Two days before DeLay left office, Benkiser declared him ineligible for the office because of the move and began the process of replacing him on the ballot.
But the Texas Democratic Party sued, saying DeLay and Benkiser were only trying to get around a state law that does not allow a party to replace a nominee who withdraws from the race if another party also has a nominee for the office.
The Democrats claimed DeLay tried to give Benkiser a sham reason to replace him by moving on paper so she could declare him ineligible. The party sued, saying the U.S. Constitution sets a candidate's eligibility as the state he is living in on Election Day.
"We didn't see this kind of manipulation in any other reported case in the country," said Democratic lawyer Cris Feldman.
U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks granted the Democrats an injunction last month, triggering the Republican appeal to the 5th Circuit. A three-judge panel heard the appeal on Monday and ruled in the Democrats' favor Thursday.
"Although the public records relied on by Benkiser may have conclusively established DeLay's present residency in Virginia, they did not conclusively establish whether he will inhabit Texas on Election Day," said the opinion written by Judge Pete Benavides and joined by Judges John Dennis and Edith Clement.
The court said Benkiser's declaration that DeLay was ineligible created an unconstitutional "pre-election inhabitancy requirement."
"Benkiser could not constitutionally find that DeLay was ineligible on June 7, the date she made the decision," the court said.
Benavides and Dennis were appointed to the court by former President Bill Clinton. Clement was appointed by President Bush and was considered by him as a possible U.S. Supreme Court nominee.
Texas Democratic Chairman Boyd Richie said the Republican Party needs to "move forward" with a "fair and moral" election.
Richie said he believes Democratic nominee Nick Lampson will win even if DeLay campaigns for office.
Bob Smither, the Libertarian nominee, said, "It seemed to me all along that what he (DeLay) did is withdraw."
'A blow to our efforts' DeLay is under indictment in Austin on campaign finance-related charges in an investigation he has said is political. Several of his former aides have pleaded guilty in a federal investigation into influence peddling by lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Local Republicans were disheartened by the 5th Circuit ruling.
"Obviously this is a blow to our efforts to replace Congressman DeLay," Fort Bend County GOP chairman Gary Gillen said. "Ultimately the choice of where we go from here is not in our hands."
Former county chairman Eric Thode said the state party made a strategic error moving the case from state court to federal court. The party took the action after the Democrats won a temporary restraining order from a Democratic state district judge.
Thode said if the case had stayed in state court, the Republicans would have been victorious on appeal because the constitutional issues would not have been involved.
This has nothing to do with the Constitution. This is Texas law. A normal state has some sort of time lag for establishing residency.
I just think he should sign up for a UT course with his Virginia address.
They will charge him out of state tuition and that would be good enough for me.
The GOP did in fact appeal the Torricelli rulings but the U.S. Supreme Court denied review.
Nope. The Dems have forced this issue, they should have to face the consequences of their stupidity. DeLay should run and the Republicans need to provide all the support they can. This provides them with a boat load of ammunition for the national stage to say "This is the result of the Democrats trying to manipulate the system to make Congressman DeLay and all Republicans look bad. Are these REALLY the people you want in charge of your government?"
After Delay wins, I'm worried the Democrats will claim he wasn't eligible after all since he had established residency in Virginia. We have to always remember what a bunch of sore losers they are.
I'd say there is no doubt whatsoever that the Dems will claim DeLay is ineligible if he does not switch his residency back to Texas before Election Day. And, in that case, they would be correct, so if he's gonna stay on the ballot and run then he'd better switch back pronto.
Thanks for the explanation of why the GOP would go to the Supreme Court instead of seeking review by the 5th Circuit sitting en banc.
But if the en banc review wouldn't take more than a couple of weeks, I would still seek en banc review.
I am guessing very soon that the Bonilla seat, currently on the watch list, is going to go way up your list of rankings. Quorumreport.com speculates the new map may be released today and be drawn by the judges.
"I'd say there is no doubt whatsoever that the Dems will claim DeLay is ineligible if he does not switch his residency back to Texas before Election Day. And, in that case, they would be correct, so if he's gonna stay on the ballot and run then he'd better switch back pronto."
Judge Higginbotham all but said that would be the case during oral arguments, so I'd say you're right.
I'm not too confident about what strategy they'll pursue, but I also lean toward the scenario you outline.
What is the GOP, Dem composition of the panel drawing the lines?
Patrick Higginbotham = Reagan appointee
Lee Rosenthal = Bush I appointee
John Ward = Clinton appointee
Quorumreport.com speculates the new map may be released today and be drawn by the judges.
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/08/5redistrict.html
Judges release congressional map for fall elections
Doggett gets more of Central Texas
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, August 04, 2006A three-judge federal panel today released a new congressional map for the November elections that gives U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, more of Travis County and Central Texas.
Under the plan, Doggett would keep southeast Travis County, add the southwestern portion of the county as well as southern Bastrop County and all of Hays, Caldwell, Gonzales, Lavaca, Colorado and Fayette counties. Doggett loses the portion of his current district in the Rio Grande Valley.
The judges also reunited Webb County into one congressional district, solidifying Hispanic voting strength in South Texas.
The U.S. Supreme Court ordered a new map to reverse discrimination against Latinos in the sprawling 23rd District, now represented by U.S. Rep. Henry Bonilla, R-San Antonio. Changes in that district forced judges to adjust neighboring districts, including Doggett's.
"These changes restore Latino voting strength to District 23 without dividing communities of interest," the judges said.
The panel placed Webb County, which includes Laredo, entirely in the 28th Congressional District, which is represented by U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo.
It added portions of Bexar County, which includes San Antonio, to Bonilla's 23rd District. That district, which includes most of the region near the state's border with Mexico, stretches from Laredo to El Paso County and north to San Antonio. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the district boundaries drawn by Republican state legislators in 2003 diminished Hispanic voting power because a large cluster of Webb County Hispanics were divided into two different congressional districts.
The new plan also moves Kerr, Kendall, Bandera and Real counties into the 21st Congressional District, represented by Republican Lamar Smith of San Antonio.
Aren't primaries the functions of the political parties and not any government?
The Republican Party, the DemocRat Party, the Liberaltarian Party, the Communist Party, the whatever party should be able to determine who will run on their ticket according to their own rules. The election in November is the only one that "counts" and the only one that government should be involved in.
I would agree except that IF Delay doesn't want the job anymore he could resign. Delay lost his leadership role and is a punching bag for the left. I can't really blame him if he wants no part of Congress anymore.
>>I would agree except that IF Delay doesn't want the job anymore he could resign. Delay lost his leadership role and is a punching bag for the left. I can't really blame him if he wants no part of Congress anymore.<<
Agreed. My read on this case is that its either not about a crime or its a technical violation.
Disclaimer: This rest of this post is not specifically about Tom Delay...
But if an acused congressman were to know that he was guilty of doing something wrong that was also moderately illegal or worse then he should resign and not run again.
I am not sure how they got the 55 percent Democrat figure or what that is supposed to mean. In any event I feel better from other reports. Best news is Cuellar won't be running against Bonilla again.
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