Posted on 08/09/2006 1:02:03 PM PDT by weegee
Sugar Land Mayor David Wallace will be a write-in candidate for the seat House Majority Leader Tom DeLay abandoned, according to a member of Wallace's campaign team.
Wallace made the decision after DeLay announced Tuesday that he would withdraw his name from the November ballot, leaving the Republican slot blank and opening up the race to a GOP write-in candidate.
The state Republican Party lost its legal battle to replace DeLay with another candidate of its choosing earlier this week.
Anyone can run as a write-in candidate. But the state Republican Party says it will back a single campaign.
"Republicans are working together with grass-roots leadership in the district to get behind and vigorously support one candidate, whether he or she is on the ballot or not,'' Texas Republican Chairwoman Tina Benkiser said.
Mounting a successful write-in candidacy will be extremely difficult, according to political experts. First, the party will have to persuade straight-ticket Republican voters to individually select candidates in each race. And if there are several write-in candidates, the statistical probability for success also declines. There's also a question of how much money a candidate can raise in a shortened campaign cycle.
Democratic nominee Nick Lampson has had all summer to campaign and has $2.1 million in the bank.
Wallace said today there is too much at stake to allow Democrats to win this seat, while acknowledging that the campaign will be exciting because of the "unique challenges a write in candidate must overcome.''
"I will be taking the fight to Nick Lampson,'' Wallace said in a statement. "The voters of this district have been denied a choice and the liberal Democrats are celebrating the absence of a Republican candidate on the ballot. But their celebration will be short lived because we intend to offer voters a real choice in November and wage a campaign that will be victorious.''
Austin political consultant Bill Miller called a write-in campaign "ludicrous.''
"It is handing the seat to the Democrats,'' he said. "Republicans cannot win this seat with a write-in candidate, I don't care what name they write in.''
What a write-in candidate gains is a leg up in the next primary, Miller said. Even if the candidate loses, he or she will be able to build name identification and visibility. "Losing once is no big deal,'' Miller said. "Lose more than once, then you are branded a loser.''
Write-in candidates have until Aug. 29 to register with the secretary of state. Prospective candidates have to pay a $3,125 filing fee or submit a petition with 500 registered voters in the 22nd Congressional District.
Anyone who ran in the March primary is not eligible as a write-in candidate. And state representatives, who also are on the ballot this November, would have to withdraw from their races to run as a write-in candidate for the congressional seat.
That means Sugar Land lawyer Tom Campbell, who came in second in the March GOP primary, and state Reps. Robert Talton of Pasadena and Charlie Howard of Sugar Land are out of the running.
Of the dozen or so candidates who were seeking the nomination, that left Wallace and Houston City Council member Shelley Sekula-Gibbs and Sugar Land Mayor David Wallace as possibly the most viable write-in candidates, Republicans said.
Sekula-Gibbs still has not decided what to do.
"People are giving me their input. I will make a decision in the near future,'' Sekula-Gibbs said. "The opportunity is very interesting. I am keenly interested in this seat and have been open about my desire. This is a different situation.''
A write-in candidacy is not "insurmountable,'' Sekula-Gibbs said. "The demographics of the district suggest a Republican can win. Voters would not only have to be convinced I was the right candidate, but familiar with the process.''
Sekula-Gibbs, who has the backing of prodigious campaign contributors such as homebuilder Bob Perry, stated a willingness to commit personal money as well.
Running a winning write-in campaign is so hard it's almost inconceivable, Southern Methodist University political scientist Cal Jillson said.
"While that's about the only route left open to Republicans, they'll find it daunting to pull that off,'' he said.
Although the district leans Republican, voters in the district are going to be depressed, Jillson said, and one of their responses may be to stay home as a protest.
Republicans may be better off declaring that an injustice has been done to their party and rallying for the next round, two years from now, Jillson said.
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 not seek re-election.
DeLay resigned from office in June and moved his official residence to Virginia, though he maintains a home in Sugar Land.
Benkiser ruled that DeLay was ineligible to serve in office and should be replaced on the ballot.
The Texas Democratic Party sued, claiming DeLay and Benkiser were trying to get around a state law that limits the ability of political parties to replace a candidate who merely withdraws from a race. They argued that the U.S. Constitution sets residency requirements for candidates only on Election Day, and not before.
Last week, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks against the Republicans. Sparks said they were trying to set up a pre-election residency requirement that didn't exist. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia rejected an appeal Monday.
Sparks did note that DeLay was free to withdraw his name from the ballot under state law. The problem was putting on a replacement.
DeLay stood by his decision to become a Virginia resident to start a business working for conservative causes.
"This decision was and is irrevocable, which I made clear from day one,'' he said. "My action was taken in accordance with Texas law, federal precedent and common sense,'' he said. "I felt it was my duty to allow Texas Republicans to choose a new candidate for the fall election ballot.''
"Down ticket" races will be affected.
How so?
As for a write-in candidacy's chances, I think they are very good.
Republicans in this district should be outraged at the Democrats use of the Courts to steal this seat.
Is this a good thing? I'm unconnected from Sugar Land politics.
That's David Wallace? Did I go to school with him?
People are lazy and may only vote for a few of the races. Hope that I am dead wrong.
No, I did not, but he looks young enough that I could have.
Hell, he looks 10 years younger than me.
I just wish DeLay had not screwed us by pulling a Toricelli after the primary....
I thought that a voter could vote "straight ticket" and STILL make a change to an individual race.
I think people are underestimating the outrage at this attempted theft by the Democrats.
Lampson's attempt to steal the 22nd district by removing our right to choose is not going to sit well in this District.
Reublicans are stupid if they don't know that the DC crowd gave the seat away by their treatment of DeLay.
Republicans now have no one with a strong hand shake or a clue.
Rubbish. If I lived in the district, I'd be furious at the Democrats attempt to steal the election. The write-in will work if the Republicans promote it through advertisements.
I think you are correct.
I think some of the leaders put heat on Delay to pull out, not wanting him to be a lightening rod nationally.
That is why I think he refuses to come back in.
I do not see him losing to Lampson, but the Democrats could have used him as a poster boy for their 'culture of corruption' campaign.
Have the democrats ever had a problem putting replacement candidates on a ballot?
Just let him be elected and replace him afterwards. Same as when the Rats elect dead candidates.
And these are the people who say they DON'T want to disenfranchise Sugarland (or is it Sugar Land) voters.
Mayor Wallace is a very nice person; and I know that from personal experience and from observation of certain details. For example, he seems to know every city employee in Sugar Land. He is the type of person who if he sees the lowest employee, say a building engineer, walking across the street, Mayor Wallace will go out of his way to walk over and say hello. He always makes time to support just about any worth local community project; and he has supported overtly conservative community projects. The city police and fire departments like him very much because he communicates with them—and not just the chiefs. Another specific example: I was with a friend of mine who is a city fireman at a charity event, and Mayor Wallace was walking by with other (more important) politicos, and at first Mayor Wallace did not recognize my friend because he was out of uniform, but when he was close enough to recognize him, Mayor Wallace stopped to say hello, introduced my friend to the other politicos, and took the time to have a pleasant conversation.
His politics are generally conservative, but he is not very deep on the issues. For example, he is pro 2A, but probably no idea what the Assault Weapon Ban was or why it was offensive to the 2A.
Here is a link to the Wallace campaign page: http://www.davidwallaceforcongress.com
Unfortunately, there are many active, conservative Fort Bend Party Chairs who do not like, partly because of when Mayor Wallace defeated the prior mayor of Sugar Land. (I will reserve my comments on this matter.) For good local blog commentary, see the following link: http://safety.websoaring.com
Here is a link to the Wallace campaign page: http://www.davidwallaceforcongress.com
Mayor Wallace has a young man, also a very nice person, named Mack (or something like that, I can’t remember now), who is running the campaign. Personally, I do not think the current campaign is up to the battle, but I bet there will be others with more experience helping out if the campaign gets serious.
For decent Fort Bend County news, very up to the minute, there is nothing better than www.fortbendnow.com but one must ignore much of the leftist blog commentary (permitted at the end of the articles).
Somebody needs to take an axe to Texas election law: Forcing recalcitrant candidates to run, instantaneous residency, inability to run in a general if losing a primary, and the Travis county prosecutor being able to railroad any Federal official in the state -- it's crazy.
That is correct. At least it was correct when I worked the 2004 general election, and as far as I know it hasn't changed.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.