Posted on 09/01/2006 8:40:33 PM PDT by AntiGuv
In yet another surprise in the race for Congressional District 22, there will be two Republican write-in candidates running against Democrat Nick Lampson and Libertarian Bob Smither.
On Tuesday – the deadline for withdrawing or registering as a write-in – Houston City Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs traveled to Austin to file her papers, as expected.
But unexpectedly, by the end of the day former Republican congressional candidate and Houston businessman Don Richardson did not ask the Texas Secretary of State’s office to remove his name as a write-in candidate.
The move threatens to further confuse voters in what has already been an extremely complicated congressional campaign. And having two GOP write-in candidates in the race may jeopardize funding from national Republican Party sources.
Contacted at his home Tuesday night, Richardson said he is still in the race despite telling GOP officials and precinct chairs at an Aug. 17 gathering in Pearland that he would drop out.
At that meeting, some 83 precicnt chairs in CD-22 voted to support Sekula-Gibbs as an unofficial Republican write-in candidate, and party officials urged other GOP candidates – including Richardson and Sugar Land Mayor David Wallace – to withdraw from the race.
At the Pearland gathering, Texas GOP Chairman Tina Benkiser “got up and said the Republican National Committee would put up $4 million if and only if” there were a single write-in candidate in the race, Richardson said.
In that case, he said, he would withdraw and allow Sekula-Gibbs’ campaign to benefit from the funding.
But the next morning, he called an official at the RNC in Washington, D.C. “I said put it in writing” that $4 million would be available to the single GOP candidate running as a write-in against Lampson, Richardson said.
He didn’t hear back. On Friday, Richardson said, he sent a fax to RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman, to the RNC official to whom he’d originally spoken, and to Benkiser.
“I said look, if you’ll put it in writing about the $4 million and refund my campaign expenses…I will withdraw,” Richardson said. “I haven’t heard from anybody. So my name is still on the ballot.”
Benkiser could not be reached Tuesday night to confirm Richardson’s recollection about $4 million coming from the RNC. Sekula-Gibbs also could not be reached.
But Sekula-Gibbs said a few days ago it was “suggested to me that” significant funding from national Republican sources would be made available if the GOP could get behind a single write-in candidate. “That’s a very important part – that there would be adequate funding” to run a major campaign, she said.
That’s because Democratic challenger Lampson has been raising money – and now is believed to have nearly $3 million in his war chest – while the Republicans were unable for months to have a declared candidate.
Wallace related something similar a few days ago. According to Wallace, Benkiser announced that “she had a commitment for $3 million for this race from Washington” as long as there is only one GOP write-in candidate. He made that statement as he announced Aug. 21 that he was ending his own write-in bid for Congress.
“I believe that with those promised resources, and a masterfully crafted campaign, a write-in candidacy is a winnable venture,” Wallace said at the time.
Despite winning the Republican Party Primary in March with 62% of the vote, DeLay announced in April he had decided to retire from Congress. He became a resident of Virginia, and then officially left Congress on June 9. Benkiser declared DeLay ineligible to appear on the general election ballot, based on his Virginia residency.
But the Texas Democrats filed suit, arguing that Benkiser’s declaration of DeLay’s ineligibility violated a provision of the U.S. Constitution. A Travis County District Court judge, a federal judge, a 5th Circuit Court of Appeals panel and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia agreed with the Democrats.
As a result, the GOP was under court order to either run DeLay as the party’s official candidate, or allow DeLay to withdraw his name and have no candidate appear as the Republican on the ballot.
DeLay chose to withdraw from the race, leaving the Republicans to field a write-in candidate – or, as it has turned out, two – as their only hope for retaining the congressional seat DeLay has held for 22 years.
TX-22 Ping!
If Richardson does not campaign, I don't think this matters, unless some Dem operative starts running ads without Richarson 's permission.
Just close up shop, and wait until 2008. What a cluster%$#@. Why is Tina still in charge, anyway?
Bummer. Hopefully, he'll have no impact.
Because noone affiliated with the RPT can admit that there were mistakes made? They are arrogant little punks. From the chairman on down to the precinct chairs.
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