Delay departure delayed

"DeLay Forced to Remain on Ballot" and "Even GOP's Hand-Picked Judge Didn't Buy DeLay Scheme" scream the headlines. Ah, the thrill of schadenfreude...

It does not look good for Tom DeLay and the Texas GOP.

Today was the big show for Texas Republicans who are vying to keep DeLay off the ballot and handpick his successor. And they lost.

After the Democrats filed their initial suit, the GOP made a motion to move the case from state court to federal court. They thought they'd find a sympathetic friend there in Judge Sam Sparks, who was nominated to his position by Pres. George H. W. Bush in 1991.

In his opinion, Sparks doesn't sound like he was ever the least bit convinced by DeLay's scheme to be declared ineligible (we've posted the opinion for you to read here):

Political acumen, strategy, and manufactured evidence, even combined with sound policy in mind, cannot override the Constitution. The evidence presented in this case provides no basis for [Texas Republican Chairwoman Tina] Benkiser’s declaration that Tom DeLay was not eligible to remain the nominee of the Republican Party under state or federal law… there is no evidence that DeLay will still be living in Virginia tomorrow, let alone on November 7, 2006, the only day that matters under the Qualification Clause of the United States Constitution....

DeLay was chosen as the Republican nominee by the voters in the Republican primary, and he is still eligible to be the party’s nominee. He may, of course, withdraw as is his right, but neither political parties, state legislatures, secretaries of state, nor the federal courts may rewrite the United States Constitution. [my emphasis]

The Republicans have ten days to file their appeal with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. If they lose, DeLay might be forced to shame-facedly reenter the race -- or Democratic Nick Lampson will take the seat unopposed.*

*Update: TPMm Reader WS points out that there is also a Libertarian candidate running for the seat, Bob Smither.

[...]

Democrats have won their suit to foil the scheme by Texas Republicans to have Tom DeLay replaced by a hand-picked successor:

The Texas Republican Party cannot replace former U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay on November's ballot, U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks ruled today....

Sparks' order prevents state Republican Chairwoman Tina Benkiser from completing the process of naming a DeLay successor. Although the Republican Party is expected to appeal, Sparks' order keeps the campaigns of possible GOP candidates for congressional District 22 in limbo.

Under state law, a political party cannot replace a nominee who resigns in mid-election. But Benkiser said she could replace DeLay because he had become ineligible to represent the GOP on the ballot when he moved to the Virginia condo he has owned for the past 12 years.

Looks like the appeal is the next battle. But in the meantime, the Dem candidate Nick Lampson will just keep raising money....