The big rumor from those in front of a TV is that DeLay has announced his retirement. I'm watching my son take a bath, so I can't confirm.
Update: Yup. He's out. The next obvious question is whether Republicans can replace DeLay on the ballot since he already won the Republican primary. The arbiter of all that is election law -- DavidNYC -- is looking into it.
If anyone else has insight into this, please share.
Update II: Now I remember why I decided not to practice law. DavidNYC and I have been poring over Texas election law.
In short, it's contradictory. If DeLay was a state- or county-level candidate, he definitely could not be replaced. But the law for federal candidates is so confusing that it probably requires a Texas election lawyer to properly unravel.
This being the blogosphere, it shouldn't take long for that kind of analysis to emerge.
Update III: DavidNYC has the ugly analysis of TX election law.
And Time has some details:
The surprise decision was based on the sort of ruthless calculation that had once given him unchallenged dominance of House Republicans and their wealthy friends in Washington's lobbying community: he realized he might lose in this November's election. DeLay got a scare in a Republican primary last month, and a recent poll taken by his campaign gave him a roughly 50-50 shot of winning, in an election season when Republicans need every seat they can hang onto to avoid a Democratic takeover of the House [...]
DeLay said he is likely to leave by the end of May, depending on the Congressional schedule and finishing his work on a couple of issues. He said he will change his legal residence to his condominium in Alexandria, Va., from his modest two-story home on a golf course here in the 22nd District of Texas. "I become ineligible to run for election if I'm not a resident of the state of Texas," he said, turning election law to his purposes for perhaps on last time. State Republican officials will then be able to name another Republican candidate to face Democrat Nick Lampson, a former House members who lost his seat in a redistricting engineered by DeLay.
What a cowardly way to leave. Changing his legal residence to Virginia...
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