DeLay was the gift that kept on giving for Democratic candidate
Nick Lampson running for Congress in the
newly redrawn 22nd Texas Congressional District. Like many high profile Republicans that Democrats just really don't like, DeLay was a name that could be used to raise money nationwide. According to Lampson's
2/15/06 filings with the FEC, he has raised more than $1.8 million and has more than $1.4 million cash on hand. Lampson, the former four-term Congressman, had no opponents in his primary and had more cash than his opponent, DeLay, who faced a number of opponents. After DeLay's showing in the primary there was concern that he might still be strong enough to win the election despite the cloud of corruption surrounding him. Still others, myself included, feared that DeLay might drop out of the race and Lampson would be faced with a strong Republican opponent who did not have the same cloud handing over him.
Now, DeLay is gone and it is time to take a look at what this means for Lampson. Looking at the
Kos Front Page Story, one can see both the jubilation of Democrats, glad that one of the Dark Lords of the Sith is gone, and the concern that Nick Lampson may face defeat. Let's not be hasty. The 22nd district of Texas is not as Republican as it seems. In 2004, the only election since the redistricting, Tom DeLay got
55% of the vote after spending more than
$3.1 million while his Democratic opponent only spent just under
$700,000. DeLay had been a Congressman for a long time having first been elected in 1984. What does this mean? I believe that Nick Lampson is sitting pretty. He has more than $1 million cash on hand seven months before the general election and the Republicans will have to spend some time figuring out if DeLay can be replaced on the ticket with someone else. The Republicans will then have to actually choose someone to run and that could be contentious since the Republicans who ran against DeLay in the Republican primary are likely to promote themselves. After Republicans choose someone that person is going to have to raise big money to compete in a short period of time. During this time Lampson can advertise, advertise, advertise, building positive name recognition and inoculating himself against negative advertising. Lampson has his organization in place, any new Republican is going to have to be very careful not to hire or have anyone working on their campaign who is connected to DeLay.
If it wasn't before, this seat just became target number one for the Democrats.