Posted on 08/17/2006 10:07:03 PM PDT by trumandogz
PEARLAND, Texas — Republican agreed Thursday to support a Houston city councilwoman as the write-in candidate on the November ballot in place of former House Majority leader Tom DeLay, who resigned from Congress in June amid allegations of money laundering.
The Texas Republican Party decided it should rally behind one write-in candidate after a federal appeals court ruled Delay, who won the March Republican primary election, must remain on the ballot.
"I'm honored to have received this support," Sekula-Gibbs said.
In addition to Sekula-Gibbs, write-in candidates vying for the GOP's support included David Wallace, mayor of Sugar Land, and Houston businessman Tim Turner. Wallace has already filed as a write-in candidate.
Only four men have been elected to Congress as write-in candidates.
Gary Gillen, the GOP chairman of DeLay's home county of Fort Bend, had urged the candidates to boycott the meeting and decide on their own whether to run.
Gillen, in a letter to candidates on Wednesday, called the meeting "a secret exclusionary process" that "makes a mockery of our party, the democratic process and should be avoided at all cost."
Democratic Party Chairman Boyd Richie also criticized the Pearland gathering.
"Despite protests from a number of Republicans in Congressional District 22, Republican Party leaders are once again running roughshod over voters fundamental right to select the candidate of their choice," he said in a statement.
Democrat Nick Lampson has been running steadily for the seat while Republicans fought the ballot issue in court. Libertarian Bob Smither also is running.
DeLay also spoke to the group about his future and the direction of the district, those who attended said.
He stepped down as majority leader last year after he was indicted in Texas on money laundering charges alleging he helped funnel illegal corporate money to legislative campaigns in 2002. He gave up his effort to reclaim the leadership job amid questions about his associations with convicted ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff and pressure from party colleagues.
DeLay denies all allegations of wrongdoing and has labeled the Texas charges a political witch hunt.
Yea, because it is the kiss of death in our district.
But the GOP is managing to hand it over to the Democrats by default.
who was she married too?
With Two Republican Write in Candidates and a Libby in the Race the GOP does not have a chance.
Exactly.
The choice of the GOP leadership must stand, as it would have if they had chosen Delay's successor.
Wallace, must step aside for the good of the Party, if he wants a legimate crack at the nomination in 2008.
The next primary will be where we will choose, and if Wallace lets the Democrat steal this seat, then he will lose his chance next time.
Gibbs is going to have a hard time winning as it is, and I am not happy with the choice myself.
But this is simply a case of making the best out of a very bad situation and keeping the seat in Republican hands.
She will have to stand on her own merits in 2008 and she will also have a record to judge as well.
I am going to support her and urge the other Republicans in the district to do as well.
Dr. Shelley Sekula-Gibbs was selected by a clear majority of the precinct chairmen who attended a gathering in Pearland, said state GOP party chairwoman Tina Benkiser. About 85 of the 150 precinct chairmen invited to the closed-door meeting attended.We'll see how this plays out but I think Wallace and the Fort Bend Republican Party should have followed the lead of the RPT chair and participated in the process to select a single candidate to support. Of course if Wallace really want's the seat and knew he would not get the nomination in this meeting, he's better off ensuring Lampson wins in 2006 so he won't have an incumbent Republican to run against in the 2008 primary."What we did is really have a family meeting to talk about how we go from here," Benkiser said. "In the end, it was an easy decision."
Sekula-Gibbs had said she only would run for the seat if the GOP said it would backed her.
"There is now a consensus, a majority and we are going to go forward and win against the Democrats in November," she said. "I'm honored to have received this support. You can't exactly call it a nomination but it's a tremendous show of support."
In addition to Sekula-Gibbs, write-in candidates vying for the GOP's support included David Wallace, mayor of Sugar Land, and Houston businessman Tim Turner.
Turner said he was disappointed by Thursday's vote but would support Sekula-Gibbs.
Wallace has already filed as a write-in candidate. He had previously indicated he would probably stay in the race even if he wasn't chosen as the write-in candidate.
Wallace did not return a telephone call from The Associated Press late Thursday.
Sekula-Gibbs said she hoped Wallace would reconsider.
"It is my fervent hope that Mr. Wallace will look into his soul and decide that it's in the best interest of the Republican Party to have one candidate and that is still his choice," she said.
I was in attendance last night in Pearland to observe the gathering of Republican precinct chairs from all across CD 22. Over 75% of them attended. They were all elected this past March in the primary to represent the Republicans in their precincts in Party matters. The precinct chairs were asked if they wanted to take a straw poll of their choice in CD 22 or not take a straw poll. It looked and sounded unanimous to me that they wanted to take a straw poll. All who wanted to run were asked to speak and three people chose to do so. When the polling took place CD 22 precinct chairs were not limited to those three, they could put down any name they wanted, Republican, Libertarian or whomever. Shelley Sekula-Gibbs was chosen without a run-off by getting a majority on the first poll. All candidates in attendance had pledged to withdraw from the race if they did not get a majority in the polling. I urge my friends in CD 22 to write in Shelley Sekula-Gibbs when they vote in November. You don’t have to spell it correctly. (Texas Election Code (TEC) § 65.009) A list of write-in candidates will appear in every voting location. (TEC § 146.031)There was much unity in this gathering and a lot of team spirit. Precinct chairs seemed very motivated to go out and work hard to win this election.
It's not the situation, but whether we react (negative) or respond (positive) to the situation that's important. – Zig Ziglar
You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children's children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done. – Ronald Reagan
I commit to all of you that if I am chosen to be your Congress member I will continue to work hard on matters of importance to District 22:
From what I have read Wallace seems to be the more conservative candidate and the parties' of both counties should have at least had a meeting or phone call over the issue.
Then she'd be right at home in Washington as a colleague of Kay Bailey (no hyphen)Hutchison, currently the front-runner for "Dumbest GOP Congresscritter."
Texas law says write-in votes would be counted if they said only "Shelley" (or "Shelly") or Sekula or Gibbs or any reasonable approximation thereof.
So therefore the Dems could find someone named "Shelly Smith" of "Bill Gibbs" and make counting votes very confusing.
So therefore the Dems could find someone named "Shelly Smith" of "Bill Gibbs" and make counting votes very confusing.
I had once been supportive of David Wallace, but lately I've been picking up rumors of tainted and questionable business dealings by him, far more serious than anything that Tom DeLay has been accused of. If it's true, than that will give Nick Lampson huge ammunition. Also, Wallace's announcement that he doesn't care what anyone else in the GOP thinks or has to say about the campaign reflects badly on him.
Also, many conservatives may be jumping the gun on Shelley Sekula-Gibbs. It's important to remember that municipal issues fall along different political lines than do Congressional and national issues. So issues that draw support of liberals in a city election doesn't automactically translate into supporting liberal positions in Congress. So she might not be a RINO after all.
Also, from a public relations standpoint, having a pro-life woman doctor in the Republican caucus would benefit the conservative cause. So she should at least be given a chance.
Can one write "Gibbs" and nothing else? If not, I don't think she can make it. And with "Wallace" also an option, Lampson must be shocked at his turn of good fortune. It seems that DeLay had little knowledge of TX election laws.
Is it pronounced PEAR LAND or PEER LAND?
I thought it was Pear Land.
But what do I know, I am a Yankee.
The First plank in Wallace's Platform:
Defend the Right to Life for unborn children
The 14th Plank in Sekula-Gibbs' Platform
Pro Life opposing government funding for abortions or abortion clinics
My eyes are rolling.
Whatever Katherine Harris is infected with must be spreading.
2006 is shaping up to be the year of the Idiot Conservatives with Katherine Harris, Tom Delay & Conrad burns being the spokespeople.
I hope Lampson does challenge Conryn for the Senate in 2008. It will give the local GOP in the TX-22 a fresh start. Plus, the only way Lampson can defeat Conryn is to go to federal court and remove him from the ballot.
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