Supremes Say DeLay Must Stay on Ballot, Hammer Says Bowing Out

Tom Delay and his wife in an Austin court last year (Photo By Jana Birchum)

The state GOP struck out a third time this week in its last effort to replace former U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay on the November ballot. The legal fight between the state Republican and Democratic parties screeched to a halt Monday with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's swift rejection of the GOP's appeal of two other court rulings.

"From day one we were confident in our legal position," said attorney Cris Feldman, who represented the Democratic Party. "Every judge, regardless of political bent, has agreed with our stance."

On Tuesday, DeLay announced he would bow out of the race and support a write-in candidate to run as the Republican nominee. "I strongly encourage the Republican Party to take any and all actions necessary to give Texas voters an up-or-down choice this fall between two major party candidates," he said in a statement. Nevertheless, the GOP's write-in candidate would have a limited amount of time to mount an effective campaign to run against Democrat Nick Lampson. Possible Republican choices to fill the slot include Sugar Land Mayor David Wallace, Houston Council Member Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, Sugar Land lawyer Tom Campbell, state Sen. Mike Jackson of La Porte, and everyone's favorite gay basher – state Rep. Robert Talton of Pasadena.

It has been a cruel couple of weeks for the Republicans. The denial from Scalia, who oversees challenges to decisions from the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes Texas, came just days after strike two, when the 5th Circuit dashed the GOP's hopes of overturning a decision by U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks. Adding insult to injury, a three-judge federal panel, in a separate DeLay-inspired case, redrew some congressional maps to correct part of a redistricting plan that the ex-congressman had ramrodded through the Legislature in 2003, back when the state party and DeLay were at the top of their game.

Facing criminal indictments in Travis Co. for alleged campaign-finance violations and haunted by ties to lobbying scandals in Washington, DeLay resigned from office shortly after the March primary, which he won with 62% of the vote. He went through the motions of leaving Sugar Land and his 22nd Congressional District to take up residence in Virginia, where he obtained a Virginia driver's license and a hunting and fishing license. With that, GOP Chair Tina Benkiser declared DeLay ineligible to run in Texas and sought to replace him on the ballot with another GOP nominee. The Democratic Party filed suit to block Benkiser's efforts, arguing that the party didn't have legal authority to switch nominees after the primary election. "You don't get to just change the party's nominee," said Democratic Party Chair Boyd Richie. "None of us get to do that."