Delay to Step Aside for Write In Candidate

DeLay to Make Way for Write-In Candidate
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By SUZANNE GAMBOA
The Associated Press
Tuesday, August 8, 2006; 2:25 PM
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WASHINGTON -- Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay intends to withdraw as a candidate for Congress, a Republican strategist said Tuesday, a step that would allow the party to field a write-in candidate in hopes of holding his seat.
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The development came one day after Texas Republicans lost a court battle in their bid to replace DeLay on the November ballot.
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There will be no Republican candidate to face Democrat Nick Lampson, a former House member.
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Texas Republicans on Monday abandoned their court fight to replace DeLay on the November ballot after being turned back at the Supreme Court.
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The decision came after Justice Antonin Scalia rejected Texas Republicans' request to block an appeals court ruling saying DeLay's name should remain on the ballot.

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While this will result in a victory for the Dems, it will also be a loss for Delay's former constituents who will be left without a viable Republican candidate. In a state where straight party ticket voting is the norm the odds of a write in candidate ever winning are extremely small. And while I believe that America would be better off without Delay in office I also believe that democracy would have been better served had the twenty second district been allowed a real choice of candidates.