What exactly was it that Tom Delay did to "cost us" his seat?
He ran for re-election in the primary, and when he won he quit. Then, when it became clear he had ruined the chance for any other republican to be on the ballot, he refused to come back and run for the seat (which he could have done, and then resigned after the election).
He should have quit before the primary, so that ALL the republicans in his district had a fair opportunity to vote for the person they wanted as their republican representative.
By running in the primary, and then dropping out, he ensured that no republican could be on the ballot, and that whoever the "republican" was would be picked NOT by the people of the district, but by the committees in the backrooms.
And that committee picked a loser of a candidate (not literally, she would have won easily if she had been on the ballot -- she won the special election), but a loser I say based on her actions during the 5 weeks she WAS the representative of the district.
Further, by dropping out after the primary, and then moving and resigning in June, he took away a critical republican vote from the house during the last 5 months of the year.
Bailed out on running again...did it too late so his name stayed on the ballot. He should have either stayed in the race or bailed earlier.
Tried to have his cake and eat it too...ended up burning the party in the process.