The Texas GOP is now appealing to the Supreme Court after a federal appeals court panel ruled that they cannot replace Tom DeLay on the Texas CD-22 ballot after the primary had been held. The GOP had argued that DeLay was no longer a resident of his district, but was rebuffed by the panel:
“When Benkiser reviewed the public records sent by DeLay and concluded that his residency in Virginia made him ineligible, she unconstitutionally created a pre-election inhabitancy requirement,” said the opinion written by Judge Pete Benavides for himself and Judges James L. Dennis and Edith Clement.
[...] “There is no evidence that DeLay, the incumbent candidate of a dominant political party, will receive only minimal support,” the court said. “Here, we fail to see how removing DeLay from the ballot would protect the voters, inasmuch as it was the voters themselves who selected DeLay as the Republican candidate for the general election.”
It’s possible DeLay will end up staying on the ballot at this point, as it seems the Supreme Court would be unlikely to overturn the decisions of two lower courts who have written such pointed decisions. Sadly, with all the kerfuffle of trying to keep DeLay on the ballot, it may end up working in his favor as this very Republican district could vote for him out of spite at the Democrat’s strategy rather than voting for the most qualified candidate (which DeLay, mired in corruption scandals, obviously isn’t).
Also on the ballot are the Libertarian candidate Bob Smither and Democrat candidate Nick Lampson.
sucker, ʟʟᴄ