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.
Get a load of the stupidity of Republicans in a very RED Congressional District.
dispite her long name she could still win if well advertised....
handing out name cards at voting stations on election day is a must for this election...
reminders not to vote straight party ticket are another
There is no reason not to vote straight party. You just have to remember to do the write in after you do the straight party. Any direct votes for a candidate cancel the straight party for that race.
Not necessarily lost. Any FReeper active in the district?
I would like to help.
FReeep mail me!
true....one just can't assume straight party vote will cover everything....
The main problem that Wallace has is a number of skeletons in his closet from his past. I imagine that the GOP chairs knew this and, remembering the previous GOP candidate in this race, chose otherwise. I would also imagine Wallace knew that they knew this, and that's the reason why he's pressed the issue so much to be on the ballot.
Besides, the Harris County part of TX-22 is the biggest block of voters in this CD and is a good deal more Republican than Fort Bend. I'm also sure there's a good deal of inter-county rivalry going on here, none of which is too bright.
That being said, I'm very sure the GOP chairs would have preferred Paul Bettencourt (Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector) be the nominee over who we're talking about here, but I imagine he wasn't really interested in a write-in campaign (and probably thought it fruitless). Rest assured, if he runs for the seat in 2008 and can get past the primary, Lampson, if he chooses to run again, will be set to lose. I guess in Harris County, of all places, a tax collector is the best candidate for national office. Strange.
I think that this "game of chicken" will eventually end, but it will undoubtedly be too late for anything. I also think Likely Dem is the correct designation for now, and later on.
Of course, I do think this race will get a certain amount of State GOP funding. After all, there really are very few races which the GOP will probably fund in any way, shape or form this year, as few races are actually competitive.
Perry can self-fund in the Gov. race, Hutchinson is not in any danger of anything, and the other statewide positions are not going to be close. The only two Congressional seats that will be remotely competitive are TX-17 and TX-23, and Bonilla can likely self-fund the special election. There are only two State Senate seats that I see as competitive this year, one of which I'm pretty sure the GOP will pick up, and a handful of State House seats here and there. The judgeships rarely get Dem candidates, so overall there's not much.
Any who, the GOP really screwed up this one this time. Hilarious.
Wonder why DeLay showed up at this meeting?
Will a Gibbs volunteer be able to give voters a slip of paper with the candidates name on it to carry into the voting station?
Paul Bettencourt said on the radio Friday that Tom explained his reasoning for not coming back to run and that the group accepted his decision. No details yet.
You need to review the evidence in the DeLay case. Ed Buckham, former DeLay COS who became interconnected with Abramoff, paid half a million dollars directly to DeLay's wife and family. Not campaign donations, mind you. Christine DeLay and Dana DeLay Ferro (daughter) were never running for office.
And they were paid for....?
I was a poll watcher for Ed Blum's Congressional campaign back in 1992. It would have been legal for Texas voters to take such material into the voting booth back then. I doubt the law has changed.
For once, a SREC member got the law right!
Yep, I can believe him. I was one of those who thought the Republican party should be more responsive to its voters. The Republican Party in District 22 is very much in disarray.
That's what Tony Rudy agreed to tell in his plea bargain. We'll see what it is all about.
Over what period of time? If it was doled out in relative small amounts and/or among several persons, this kind of thing has always been done. To put things into perspective, the annual payrol of a small private elementary school exceeds 500 grand.
The bribes were paid over two or three years, I think. But I don't understand why it would matter if the bribes were paid in one shot or over a period of time.
You've got to understand that the money came from Buckham's lobbying firm, Alexander Strategy Group (ASG), and his "non-profit", US Family Network (USFN).
Regarding the money from ASG, it might as well have come from Abramoff himself. The DeLays orignially say that Christine "earned" the money for compiling a list of Congressmen's favorite charities, but that explanation has been fluid in recent weeks.
USFN was basically a sham organization. If you can find any legal activities for the USFN, I'd be surprised. It basically existed to enrich Buckham and the DeLays. USFN is toxic. There is no legitimate reason for the DeLays to get money from USFN.
Also be aware of the close ties between ASG, USFN and DeLay's PAC, ARMPAC. You may remember that ARMPAC admitted criminal wrongdoing a few weeks ago and shut down operations.
I am afraid that this is a typical case of a public official looking at his salary and asking himself, "Why do I get peanuts while the lobbys are paying out $250,000 a year for gophers." A shame. Reminding me of a discussion and friend of mine and I had with a lobbyist in Austin,about 40 years ago, while I was a graduate student. We were talking about the piddling salaries that Texas legisltors got. I said something like, well, if you paid them more they would be less likely to take bribes. He smiled and said: there is no amount you can pay them that will prevent that. The honest ones will not take bribes and the dishonest will take them until they get caught, and no one thinks anything of it because we are all guilty.
Do stupid people deserve to win?
Isn't that like affirmative action?
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