Democrats Weigh 2006 Challenge to DeLay

Democrats Weigh 2006 Challenge to DeLay

By WENDY BENJAMINSON, Associated Press Writer

HOUSTON - Democrats, who often ignored Rep. Tom DeLay (news, bio, voting record)'s Republican-leaning district, see a political opening in 2006 now that the House Majority leader faces ethics questions and dismay over his intervention in the Terri Schiavo case.

Democratic activists in the suburban Houston district have been composing a wish list of possible candidates as the embattled DeLay answers questions about his record.

In past elections, the Republican who won his House seat in 1984 has coasted to victory, often with more than 60 percent of the vote. Last November he won by 55-41 percent.

This week, a Houston Chronicle poll in the district found that 49 percent said they would vote for someone else. That number has sparked the most interest in a Democratic primary in the district in years.

"Now that DeLay is being pushed ever closer to the political brink, everyone is realizing that any of these challengers on his worst day might be better than DeLay on his best day," said longtime Democratic strategist Kelly Fero.

<SNIP>

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=512&e=1&u=/ap/20050408/ap_on_go_co/delay_democrats

Man up and run a challenger. He's a wounded duck.

Here's a list of potential challengers -

_Richard Morrison, a lawyer from Sugar Land, Texas, captured 41 percent of the vote with only $630,000 against DeLay's $2.9 million in last November's election. Morrison is favored by local Democratic activists who believe he deserves their loyalty for his strong showing.


_Houston City Councilman Gordon Quan, a Chinese-American immigration lawyer, could capitalize on the district's growing Asian and South Asian population.


_Former Rep. Nick Lampson, whose district was redrawn to favor the GOP and covered areas that DeLay now represents, including the NASA area and Galveston. Lampson said he has been approached by several people but hasn't decided whether to run.


A nascent effort to draft former Rep. Chris Bell (news, bio, voting record) fizzled when Bell responded to e-mailers that he preferred to focus on his gubernatorial ambitions.

I've met Gordon Quan, and he seems like a genuinely decent guy, and effective.

Meanwhile, the top election officials in the main county "represented" by DeLay (Fort Bend) are trying to rush through some good ole paperless DREs.

Before you get too excited about candidates, get excited about maintaining a recountable voting system there. Put pressure on the top election official, you locals! P A P E R! They have optical scan now, no need to change, except for some accommodation for visually impaired voters -- one accessible machine per pct.

What isn't the DLC happy with him.

Morrison's got a head start on everyone, anyway. There shouldn't be any discussion over whether to challenge him, and probably not even who should challenge him.

Field a candidate in EVERY race, EVERY district!

yeah... the other side is 'plotting' to 'steal' his job, eh?

surprise, surprise

peace

matter of fact, I don't think he'll be around for much longer - in the House, anyway. Hopefully he'll be housed in a prison long before that.

If not, we're even more screwed than I think we are, and I think we're pretty screwed as it is.

First you've got a handful of Dems who were literally redistricted out of a job. Surely a few of them would consider moving to DeLay's district to run against him. Payback's a bitch.

What about the heroic dems who fled the state rather than give the state legislature the quorum they needed? There must be some of them available too.

THis should be job 1 for Rahm Emanuel. If DeLay is not vulnerable now, he never will be.

We have a perfect candidate to beat DeLay right now. Got 41% of the vote with virtually no backing from the national party. Richard Morrison started running for 2006 on November 3.