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June 26, 2006
Waiting on Justice
This final week of June has politics watchers keenly focused on two Texas legal cases -- one in Austin, the other in Washington DC. Though unrelated, there is a significant thread linking the two cases, Sugar Land's own (or is it Arlington, VA?) Tom DeLay.
In Austin, federal judge Sam Sparks heard arguments today from both the Texas Democratic Party, which is seeking to force Tom DeLay's name to remain on the November general election ballot for the 22nd Congressional District, and Mr. DeLay, who is seeking to remove himself from the ballot on the grounds that he is now a Virginia resident.
The Statesman recaps the courtroom happenings. Both its and Quorum Report's coverage suggest that the judge, who did not rule on the case today, may be leaning against allowing the Congressman to retire from the race, after having won the GOP primary in March.
Keeping Mr. DeLay on the ballot would be welcome news for CD 22 Democratic nominee Nick Lampson, who suffered a setback last week when Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams failed to certify CD 22 independent candidate hopeful (and former Republican Congressman) Steve Stockman for the ballot.
At the very least, this legal challenge has delayed the GOP's ability to choose a new standard bearer for November, which will handicap the eventual nominee in terms of raising money and putting together an effective campaign in several counties. Meanwhile, word is Lampson continues to raise money at a brisk clip. We shall see.
The American political establishment also awaits the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on the controversial Texas redistricting plan -- a plan engineered by none other than the good Congressman (current or retired, depending on your perspective) from Sugar Land. The ruling will come by the end of this week, when the court adjourns for the summer.
The deciding vote will be that of Justice Anthony Kennedy, who has wavered on previous redistricting decisions, and who was likely responsible for the court taking the case in the first place. While Kennedy voted with the majority in upholding the Pennsylvania GOP plan of a few years ago, he has expressed reservations about partisan redistricting, particularly of the mid-decade variety, run amok.
Most speculate that the court will narrowly reject certain portions of the Texas plan, perhaps some combination of the redrawing of the Frost, Doggett and Bonilla seats. It is unclear how ordering the lower court to make specific changes to these or other individual districts might affect the plan as a whole. We will know in a few days.
Hey, if the court invalidates the whole Texas plan (unlikely but possible), we would revert to the 2001 apportionment lines, and candidates would all run in open primaries. Thus, Tom DeLay would get his wish to escape the ballot. There's a tasty bit of irony to ponder -- could DeLay secretly be hoping for the undoing of his own crowning political oeuvre? It's fun to think about, isn't it?
Posted by houtopia at June 26, 2006 10:47 PM