Posted on 08/21/2006 6:31:23 AM PDT by bgsugar
Campbell, Turner Throw Support Behind Sekula-Gibbs Campaign by Bob Dunn, Aug 21, 2006, 07 13 am
Tom Campbell and Tim Turner, two Republicans who each campaigned to replace Tom DeLay in the race for Congressional District 22, have endorsed Houston Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs as a write-in candidate for that seat.
Campbell, who made his endorsement on Saturday, came in a distant second to DeLay in the March primary, then ran as a replacement candidate after DeLay announced he was leaving Congress.
“Shelley Sekula-Gibbs is honorable and competitive and worthy of my support,” Campbell said on Saturday.
Turner, a Houston businessman, finished second to Sekula-Gibbs in a vote Thursday, when CD-22 precinct chairs gathered to put their support behind a Republican write-in candidate.
In a statement Sunday, he said he’s supporting Sekula-Gibbs “in an effort to encourage unity from all Republicans and to preserve the district as a Republican stronghold.”
The GOP was forced to pin its hopes on write-in candidates after a series of events that ended when the courts refused to allow DeLay to be declared ineligible to be on the ballot. Texas GOP Chairman Tina Benkiser already had done so in June after DeLay said he’d become a Virginia resident, sparking a lawsuit by the Texas Democratic Party.
DeLay, who said he wanted off the ballot because the race had become a personal referendum over his legal problems, intended to allow himself to be replaced with a conservative Republican candidate.
Blocked from doing so by the courts, DeLay withdrew from the race, and now the GOP has no official candidate on the ballot to run against Democrat Nick Lampson and Libertarian Bob Smither.
Thursday, state party officials presided over some of CD-22’s precinct chairs from Harris, Fort Bend, Galveston and Brazoria counties, who voted to back Sekula-Gibbs.
Not present at Thursday’s meeting was Sugar Land Mayor David Wallace, who announced his write-in campaign Aug. 9 and has received strong support in Fort Bend County.
Benkiser, Sekula-Gibbs and other GOP leaders have called on him to end his campaign so that just one Republican is running as a write-in. Political observers call a write-in victory in a Congressional race highly unlikely, but producing a win with two GOP write-in candidates to split the vote is seen as nearly impossible.
Wallace is reportedly planning a press conference today to announce whether he’ll continue with his campaign.
Campbell said Republican voters should back Sekula-Gibbs because she “is worthy to carry our Republican standard into this election. Even as a write-in, a conservative Sekula-Gibbs can beat liberal Nick Lampson in District 22.”
Campbell, who attended the GOP “gathering” at First Baptist Church in Pearland on Thursday, said he wanted to emphasize that precinct chairs selected Sekula-Gibbs, and although DeLay attended part of the meeting, he had nothing to do with the selection process.
“The Tom DeLay era is over,” Campbell said. “I know Tom DeLay, and Tom DeLay is no friend of mine. And Shelley Sekula-Gibbbs is no Tom DeLay.”
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Activism/Chapters not!
So she's got the Timmy Turner endorsement. Has Jimmy Neutron weighed in yet?
I still think the GOP ought to get behind the Libertarian if they want any chance to win. Getting 80-140K voters to write-in someone's name is a stretch.
if we pull this off the DUmmies heads will explode....that alone is worth busting our butts for
Maybe so, but the train has left the station and Smither (L) isn't driving, Shelley Sekula-Gibbs is.
Wallace may be wiring up the trestle bridge with dynamite, but I'm sure there are quite a few influential people busily reminding him that his political career will go into the ravine as well, if he does persist with his also-ran write-in campaign. There are a lot of ways that Lampson could end up winning CD22, but the surest way to ensure that is for Republicans to give up without trying.
As much as I saw a Smither (L) campaign as a statistically better solution, there is no way that the Republican Party could back a candidate from another Party and keep any self-respect. The only thing they could have done was to not endorse any write-in candidate and let word of mouth push voters to Smither (L) to keep Lampson from getting CD22. But Wallace's "bull in a china shop" approach shows that would not work either.
It may be a long shot, but a concerted effort by all of the Republican Party to back 1 write-in candidates can work, especially against an unpopular Democrat challenger.
still think the GOP ought to get behind the Libertarian if they want any chance to win. Getting 80-140K voters to write-in someone's name is a stretch
You might be right. Clear thinking of the HOT chapter,LOL
How could Republicans helping someone from a different political party be counted as a win for the Republican Party? That would be a win for the Libertarian Party.
Who would the libertatian vote for majority leader?
The only thing promoting the write-in Sekula-Gibbs will accomplish is giving her a head start on the 2008 Republican Primary. Practically speaking the only chance to keep Lampson from winning CD22 is for the Republican Party to unite behind the Libertarian. I think the Astros have a better chance of winning the World Serires this year than that happening.
Nancy Pelosi?
I think Shelley Sekula-Gibbs will win, despite your best efforts.
OoooooKay, now close your eyes and think happy thoughts and it will all come true.
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