Write-in Could Win Delay's Spot, Poll Finds.

Houston Chronicle ^ | 10-29-2006 | Doug Miller

[Theodore R.]

TX does not have runoffs for general elections. For special elections and primaries, yes, but not for general elections.

[FreedomNeocon]

The inside the beltway bluebloods always go insane in October every even numbered year.

Hell... go watch FOX news clips from election night '04... the groupthink is so strong during these last few weeks. Its almost like being at some "democrat"-themed amusement park bizzaro world living so close to the beltway for another 2 weeks.

[AntiGuv]

PS. I looked up the figure and it's even worse than I thought. In 2004 55% of Texas Republicans cast straight party ballots. I had assumed the figure was about 33%. To reiterate for the general lurker public, a straight-party GOP vote will not register anything for the TX-22 House race.

[kinghorse]

Sugarland has more churches per square mile than anywhere in the USA. Since Austin/Sodom took Delay prisoner of war you would think Sugarland voters would be fired up about this one. It's a bonus if she wins on account of how hard it will be to vote for her. The only person maybe a worse choice spelling wise would have been to run that Iranian runt for the seat.

[ichabod1]

Vote Twice For Shelley!

[ichabod1]

Her name will be posted in each of the voting booths.

[ichabod1]

widow of local news anchor Sylvan Rodriguez

She's also an MD and a current Houston City Council member. She's also very blonde, and very likeable. She's a formidable candidate. If she wins this she will be gold.

[Unmarked Package]

"In 2004 55% of Texas Republicans cast straight party ballots. I had assumed the figure was about 33%. To reiterate for the general lurker public, a straight-party GOP vote will not register anything for the TX-22 House race."

It's a hurdle to overcome, no doubt, but a feature of the eSlate electronic voting machines in TX-22 provides some assistance to mitigate the damage.

A straight-party Republican voter in TX-22, and one who neglects to enter a write-in candidate for the U.S. House, eventually gets to the summary pages of all the candidates selected by their straight-party vote. On their first summary page near the top, printed in red letters, will appear the phrase "No Vote" on the line for the U.S. House race.

Hopefully, that will prompt some who know of the write-in race to return to that part of the ballot and write in Shelley Sekula Gibbs. I realize it's not good, but at least it provides some hope of catching some missing Republican votes for that race.

[OldFriend]

Some people are hoping that the republicans lose the house and senate so they can say I TOLD YOU SO.

A pox on anyone who puts negative thoughts before hard work getting our side re-elected.

[The Hound Passer]

Oh my. IF the GOP kept this seat AND kept the House hilarity would definitely ensue over at DU.

[OldFriend]

You reviewed polls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did you ignore the fact that ALL polls are over weighted with democrats?????????

[ken5050]

and we keep Foley's seat in Florida, and Pelosi goes mad..

[The Hound Passer]

**Note: Straight-ticket R will not vote Sekula-Gibbs in. There is one vote for the special election for the rest of 2006, which contains her name, and one vote for the General Election for 2007 onward, in which her name must be written in. http://www.writeshelley.com/

Good info to know. Worth posting again.

[ken5050]

I enjoyed the discussion between you two. Glad you're still friends..(G)

BTW..let's not forget it's only 9 days until Charlie Rangel retires!!

Seriously, it's all about turnout.. 50 million LESS voted in 2002 than in 2004...so I think the polls are all wet. No way they can predict turnout in what are close races..BTW..this Sunday on Chrissie Matthews' weekend show, one of the guests..a conservative columnist..said that turnout would be HUGE for the GOP..she said the "Broken Glass Republicans" were back..I haven't heard that phrase in a long time..

[achilles2000]

Putting Earle and Lampson in their places would be the best thing about the win. Unfortunately, if SSG wins a real conservative, tough leader will be replaced by someone who is not a tough conservative and not a real leader. The best we'll get is a moderately conservative drone - kind of like Hutchinson. DeLay really created a mess..

[FreedomCalls]

Her name is brutal. You're correct, she'd win if her name was Jane Smith! or Jones for that matter. :)

And it has to be entered with a scroll wheel on an electronic voting machine.

Try one out here. See if you can enter a name like that or give up in frustration first.

[unionblue83]

Definitely one to keep an eye on. Think Ronnie Earle will check in to the asylum if this goes down? There's always hope.

[Unmarked Package]

"See if you can enter a name like that or give up in frustration first."

I live in the TX-22 district, and I will try to enter the name of Shelley Sekula Gibbs until my fingers bleed rather than be represented in Congress by liberal Democrat Nick Lampson. :-)

[HHFi]

Keep in mind that it's not necessary for all three names to be entered and spelled correctly for the write-in vote to count in TX 22. I know that a select set of partial entries is authorized to be acceptable

No, the rule is that if you're voting for a Republican, for it to count, you have to be able to write in the entire name, very clearly, in Gothic calligraphy, with no misspellings. If you're voting for a Democrat, you just have to impregnate a chad, or doodle something that looks vaguely like the first letter of his name on the back of the ballot. Because the most important thing is to determine the intent of the voter psychically and make sure his vote counts, but only if it's a "vote" for a Democrat.

[Kokomo_Joe]

Will voters have to spell her full name?
Shelley Sekula-Gibbs?
What if somebody writes say Shelly Secula...

I hope she wins, but this one looks like a longshot, my money went elsewhere.