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dy156 · 10-29-2004, 04:08 PM

Tom Delay urged the Texas Legislature to redistrict congressional races, and they did. This thread is not about that. As a result, six democrat incumbant congressmen were pitted in very different districts than those they had represented before, and several of them are in races against incumbant Republican congressmen. (One of those retired.)

There was another thread about partisanship, and I for one, spoke up as to why I was voting for a major party candidate despite negative campaigning and flaws in my chosen candidate. I have spoken out many times on these boards in support of Bush. I hope he wins. My passion for Bush, however, pales in comparison to how irritated I am about these Texas House races, and how much I hope Charlie Stenholm wins.

I know that Texas house races might not be a real popular topic of conversation, and so some of this is just me getting this off my chest.
First, by way of introduction, here is some information on the races shamelessly copied from www.capitaleye.org/hotraces

Quote:

TEXAS
DISTRICT 1

•Max Sandlin (D)*
•Louis B. Gohmert Jr (R)
•Dean L. Tucker (L)

A highly controversial redistricting plan adopted in 2002 by the Republican-controlled legislature put a handful of Democratic House members on the hot seat, and Max Sandlin is one of them. The new 1st District comprises only about 40 percent of the old one, and the population is now much more conservative. Sandlin is running against former Smith County District Court Judge Louis Gohmert, who, according to the Cook Political Report, has a law-and-order image. Each candidate has received some major endorsements. The Texas Farm Bureau announced in early October that it was backing Sandlin. The National Right to Life Committee is behind Gohmert. Each side is trying to paint each other as extreme. Sandlin had raised just over $1.5 million and had a little more than $191,000 on hand as of Oct. 13. Gohmert had raised nearly $1.4, of which close to $197,000 remained. Sandlin has raised more money from lawyers than from any other group. Gohmert has relied on leadership political action committees and doctors for the bulk of his support. He raised $10,000 from Americans for a Republican Majority, the leadership PAC of embattled House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. DeLay was reportedly the mastermind behind the GOP redistricting plan, and has faced a number of allegations of ethical wrongdoing in the context of redistricting.

TEXAS
DISTRICT 2

•Nick Lampson (D)*
•Ted Poe (R)
•Sandi Saulsbury (L)

Nick Lampson is one of the Democratic House members imperiled by the controversial redistricting plan adopted in 2002 by Texas’ Republican-controlled legislature. Lampson is facing Harris County District Court Judge Ted Poe, who has concerned some Republicans who say he hasn’t spent enough time raising money. Lampson’s fundraising advantage could save him from defeat. He had raised nearly $2.1 million through Oct. 13, almost twice as much as the $1.1 Poe raised through Sept. 30. But Poe had the bigger advantage with more cash on hand, with $595,000 in the bank as compared to Poe’s $348,000. Still, Lampson’s three decades worth of campaign experience appear to be serving him well in this race. Poe has had to answer criticism that he employed "creative sentencing" from the bench. He once sentenced a man to clean the Houston Police Department's stables for stealing antique pistols. Lampson has raised far more money from lawyers than from any other group. Poe has relied on leadership political action committees for the bulk of his support. He raised $5,000 from Americans for a Republican Majority, the leadership PAC of embattled House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. DeLay was reportedly the mastermind behind the GOP redistricting plan, and has faced a number of allegations of ethical wrongdoing in the context of redistricting.

TEXAS
DISTRICT 17

•Chet Edwards (D)*
•A. Arlene Wohlgemuth (R)

Democratic Rep. Chet Edwards is seeking his eighth term in a district that was dramatically redrawn by the Texas legislature following the 2002 elections. Edwards is facing a challenge from Republican state Rep. Arlene Wohlgemuth, who proved her mettle as a strong fundraiser by raising more than $600,000 to win a GOP runoff in the primary. Edwards is considered strong in areas including Waco, while Wohlgemuth is expected to do well in Johnson County, according to National Journal. College Station, the home of Texas A&M University, is a tossup. Both candidates had raised impressive sums of money as Election Day drew nearer, but Edwards enjoyed a significant advantage in cash on hand, with $667,000 as of Sept. 30 as compared to Wohlgemuth’s $86,000 as of Oct. 13.

TEXAS
DISTRICT 19

•Randy Neugebauer (R)*
•Charles W. Stenholm (D)*

Rep. Charles Stenholm is another Democrat targeted by the Republican-controlled Texas legislature’s controversial redistricting plan. This race has the added intrigue of pitting Stenholm against incumbent GOP Rep. Randy Neugebauer. Two-thirds of the newly drawn district is made up of Neugebauer’s old district, giving the Republican a distinct advantage. But Stenholm’s good track record among Republican voters promises to make this race a close one. Neugebauer had the edge in fundraising as of Sept. 30. He had raised more than $2.6 million and had more than $313,475 million left to spend. Stenholm had raised more than $2 million and nearly $236,000 remaining. Neugebauer has raised far more from leadership political action committees than from any other group, an indication of this race’s importance to the House Republican leadership. Stenholm has relied on crop growers and processors, as well as agricultural services companies, for a large portion of his funds.

TEXAS
DISTRICT 32

•Martin Frost (D)*
•Pete Sessions (R)*
•Michael David Needleman (L)

Of the five Democrats imperiled by the redistricting plan pushed through the Republican-controlled Texas legislature following the 2002 elections, Rep. Martin Frost is one of two facing an incumbent Republican House member this year. (Charles Stenholm is the other.) Frost hopes that his long record in elected office will carry the day, even among a Republican-leaning electorate. Frost is having to defend himself against allegations that he illegally used corporate money to fund state legislative races, according to National Journal. Frost vehemently denies the charges. Both men have raised an enormous amount of money for their campaigns. Frost had the advantage with nearly $4.3 million on hand, but Sessions was trailing close behind with $4 million as of Oct. 13. Sessions, who had $1.8 million left to spend, had an advantage over Frost closing in on Election Day. Frost had about $590,000 left to spend as of Oct. 13. Frost has raised far more money for this race from lawyers than he has from any other group. Sessions has collected a large sum of money from leadership political action committees, including Americans for a Republican Majority, the leadership PAC of embattled House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

As I said, Stenholm's is the race I care about, even though I no longer live in that district. I don't normally think a candidate should run on how many years he has been in Congress. But I think Stenholm's record in this case merits it.

He was one of five House Democrats to side with Republicans for impeachment. He offered, year after year, the Stenholm balanced budget amendment, long before the Republicans took up budget cutting as an important issue. Yes, he's in favor of farm subsidies, but for farm subsidies that work and make sense. He takes courageous, principled stands, and sticks by them. You probably would not expect an old Democrat to say that Social Security needs reforming, but he does. He's said for years that it will become bankrupt, and that the retirement age needs to be raised to keep pace with the increased life expectancy of retired people now as opposed to the life expectancy when Social Security was created. Hard to fault that logic, it makes sense, and is less risky than a vague plan to partially privitize S.S.

Part of what irks me is that he deserves better than this from the Republican party, if the Republican party is truly conservative. He was one of Reagan's most important allies in a Democrat controlled House. He's been critical of Bush, but mostly in this administration's unchecked spending habits. (But so has the staunchly conservative Wall Street Journal.) The district's retired Republican congressman, Larry Combest, has attended the debates, sat in the Stenholm supporter section, and refused to endorse either candidate.

The Abilene area, and his old district, voted for Bush by a larger margin than did even Tom DeLay's congressional district, yet continued to elect Stenholm because he knows what is best for the region and votes accordingly. For him to be placed in a district that is almost completely new and that will likely elect another man largely because of the (R) next to his name is a travesty of justice. There is definitely something to be said for loyalty, and really admire Stenholm for not switching parties, but continuing to fight to make the party he is in better. Stenholm actually has a more conservative voting record than Zell Miller did, but because the Republicans in the House want more votes, they are pushing as much money and support toward Neuaberger as they can. Dick Cheney has made campaign stops for Neauberger in Lubbock. I think it is the height of intellectual dishonesty.

a recent Houston Chronicle editorial about the race that I admit is a somewhat biased editorial, but provides some background.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory...utlook/2862478

Quote:

HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Viewpoints, OutlookHoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Viewpoints, Outlook

Oct. 23, 2004, 8:41PM

Ill wind (courtesy of DeLay) blowing from High Plains
Cragg Hines visits West Texas for what he fears may be a last look at a vanishing breed. And the majority leader couldn't be happier
By CRAGG HINES
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

LUBBOCK — In one of its most perverse pieces of penmanship, the Texas Legislature created the new U.S. House District 19. It's one of those mean-spirited squiggles that, to achieve its putative 60-40 Republican tilt, meanders from the New Mexico line almost to Wichita Falls, and in several points is only one county deep.

It has a single purpose: to atomize Charlie Stenholm, one of the best representatives Texas has sent to Congress in the last quarter-century. It's the kind of project that gets Tom DeLay up every morning, and the new 19th was, perhaps it's needless to say, a DeLay brainchild.

And it is yet another example of DeLay's insistence on pairing two incumbent U.S. House members (one Republican, one Democrat) in a single district. That this is bad for Texas is, of course, of zero concern to DeLay, the Sugar Land Republican and U.S. House majority leader.

Let's be plain: In the interest of partisan self-aggrandizement, because Stenholm is a Democrat (albeit a conservative Democrat), DeLay is willing to sacrifice a man who is a seasoned, persuasive advocate for Texas agricultural interests in favor of a knee-jerk Republican robot, Randy Neugebauer, who went to the House in a special election last year and whose influence on Capitol Hill can be measured with an eye-dropper.

Neugebauer says redistricting is history, and in a televised debate argued that the race "is not about the past."

But Stenholm pointed out that DeLay's demand for the irregular redistricting is just another instance of the Republican leader's attempt to consolidate his power at any cost. The same mindset, Stenholm said in the Lubbock debate, has resulted in "no energy bill, no budget ... , no increase in the debt ceiling."

"We have complete and total chaos brought about by the same quest for partisan political power," Stenholm said.

In a cartoonish manner, Neugebauer attempts to paint Stenholm as joined at the hip with liberal Democrats, including presidential contender John Kerry. President Bush (who lost a House race in these parts the year Stenholm first won his old seat) is featured in Neugebauer's ads.

"I'm pro-life, pro-family, pro-country," Stenholm tells almost every audience, as he tries to meet the three-quarters of the district's voters he has never represented. He points out that he votes with a majority of his party in the House less than 60 percent of the time and supports Bush's position more than 60 percent of the time.

Stenholm said Neugebauer in his brief tenure has voted with DeLay and the Republicans 98 percent of the time, "whether it's good for West Texas or not."

After redistricting, Republicans suggested Stenholm, who turns 66 this week, might retire.

"They got on my fighting side," Stenholm told 20 fellow cotton farmers in a roughly finished room at a farmers co-op in Sudan. "I've got fire in my belly."

Stenholm needs it. Polling shows him behind, perhaps irretrievably.

At Sudan, Stenholm said he decided to run again — against the partisan odds — for the same reason he got into the race in his old, more easterly district 26 years ago.

"I thought a rural background would help," said Stenholm, still one of the few experienced farmers in Congress.

By two years ago, Stenholm, one of a small group of center-right Democrats left in the House, had developed enough seniority and respect to help craft and assemble the delicate majority to pass the most important farm bill in a generation. His co-author was Larry Combest, the Lubbock Republican whose midterm retirement from the House opened the way for Neugebauer, a banker and builder. Combest has, so far, remained neutral in the current donnybrook.

When this year's challenging race rolled around, Stenholm said, "I couldn't walk away from being the ranking member of the agriculture committee." He hangs back from a larger partisan implication, not pointing out that he would, in fact, be in line to be chairman of the committee if Democrats regain control of the House.

"If I lose, the ranking (Democratic) member will be from Minnesota," he said in Sudan. Later, down U.S. 84 in Amherst, he added: "They don't raise much cotton in Minnesota."

Before Stenholm got to Sudan, Steve Martin, who farms 1,500 acres of cotton in Lamb County and plans to vote for Stenholm, criticized the redistricting and said: "People don't want to have to make the choice." But a choice they must make.

Stenholm contends that the race is closing quickly. His spokeswoman, Jodi Zweifler, argues that if the contest were lopsided, Neugebauer's advertising would not have gotten so negative.

Susan Banducci, a political science professor at Texas Tech, notes that Stenholm is technically the challenger and that challengers historically lose unless they are well-funded, well known and good candidates.

"If any sort of challenger can do it, (Stenholm) is a good prospect," Banducci said.

But that's all he is in the final days of the campaign, a good man who has a theoretical prospect.

Hines is a Houston Chronicle columnist based in Washington, D.C. cragg.hines@chron.com

Sorry if it seems that I'm just on a soap box here, and maybe I am, but this race thoroughly pisses me off.

Feel free to talk about the other races here too, these are my comments:
Louis Gohmert v. Max Sandlin
-Gohmert had campaign ads about how, as a judge, he was tough on illegal immigrants. Huh? how does an appellate judge (Gohmert's former position) do anything about that?

Lampson v. Poe
-trial lawyers routinely support the democrat more, but especially so here. Not only because Lampson is more liberal, but because Poe was a loose cannon and unpredictable. (not a good trait in a judge) But this is a lesser of two evils, Lampson's not great, and I know nothing more about it than what a friend told me about Poe.

Edwards v. Wogemouthe
-Edwards, not as conservative as Stenholm, but with the strong support of Fort Hood, might win in this "I'm a bigger Aggie and support George Bush more" race. p.s. Chet Edward's wife is pretty good looking!

Frost v. Sessions
-Probably one of the most high profile and nastiest campaigns I've seen for Congress. The media point out that Frost is Jewish way too much for my taste, but I'd probably vote for Sessions.

Thanks for your indulgence, all who read this thing. I'm also more than a little curious to see how many people here know about and/or care about these races, which have gotten some national attention.