It was going to be uphill for her, anyhow, since it was, under the pre-2004 lines, a fairly Dem district (it voted for Clinton twice and even for Dukakis in ‘88). You saw the problem in the adjacent district when we beat Jack Brooks in ‘94, as the Dems took it back again in ‘96 (which meant that even if Peterson had scored an upset, Turner probably would’ve taken it away). True in that there are almost no Democrats you can vote for in good conscience today (I probably wouldn’t have voted for Pat Moynihan, though, since he was still quite liberal — even Zell Miller’s opponent, Mack Mattingly, the former 1st GOP Senator from GA since Reconstruction (1981-87), was more Conservative and so I probably would’ve cast a vote for him).
Disregarding local elections where there are almost no Republicans where I live, the only Dem I cast a vote for was in opposition to a RINO in 1998 for TN Governor (John Jay Hooker over Don Sundquist). Hooker was strictly and unapologetically pro-Constitution and would’ve made a far better Governor and been an enormous thorn in the butt of the rodents controlling my state. The Democrats were so opposed to him that they gave silent support to the Republican. That was all I needed to know. RINOs are a worse cancer than any Democrat. They’re liberal Democrats who have infiltrated the GOP to maximize damage from within.
Jack Brooks’ old District (Now redistricted) is now represented by the very Conservative Republican, Judge Ted Poe of Humble who is actually quite popular in the old “Golden Triangle” and he carried Jefferson 1996 which as you know was a very Dim year.
Also Hardin County, just North of there has became solidly Republican (In National and Statewide races).