(November 1, 2006)—The 22nd Congressional District of Texas was Tom DeLay’s to lose for two decades, but DeLay has resigned, the district is in play, and with a week to go until Election Day, Democrats are smelling victory.
The Democrats are benefiting from an almost perfect political storm that started with DeLay’s resignation this summer.
Rising doubts about the war in Iraq coupled with a court’s refusal to allow Texas Republicans to put the name of a replacement candidate on the November ballot gave Democrats reason to believe that their candidate, former Congressman Nick Lampson, might actually have a chance to win in the GOP enclave.
But it’s not a sure thing.
A new poll finds that just as many likely voters support a write-in candidate as the Democratic nominee in the race.
Thirty-five percent of respondents said they would vote for a write-in candidate.
That's a statistical tie with 36 percent support for Lampson.
Of the respondents who said they'd choose a write-in candidate, 79 percent said they planned to name Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, the Houston city councilwoman and the write-in candidate backed by the Republican Party.
Twenty-five percent of respondents said they're undecided.
Four percent said they would vote for Libertarian Bob Smither.
President Bush headed to Sugar Land Monday where he urged several thousand of the party faithful to send Sekula-Gibbs to Congress.
At an airport rally in Sugar Land, the president said, "Remember, when you show up to vote on November the seventh--bring your pencil.”
