April 10, 2006
Senator Jackson's Name Now in Ring
of Possible Replacements for DeLay
By
Mike Hailey
Capitol
Inside Editor
State Senator Mike Jackson of
La Porte has entered the competition for the right
to replace U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay
of Sugar Land as the Republican nominee in the
race for the congressional seat that the embattled
incumbent plans to give up in the next month or
two.
Jackson, who represents a larger chunk of Congressional
District 22 than any other state senator, pointed
out that the district he's represented in the
upper chamber for the past seven years includes
parts of three of the four counties that are partially
located in DeLay's coastal district.
"If I were selected by the precinct chairmen
of that congressional district to fulfill the
duties of Congressman Tom DeLay, I would be honored,"
Jackson told Capitol Inside.
Jackson is the first state senator to indicate
an interest in a move from the statehouse to the
nation's capital as a substitue candidate on the
November ballot for Delay, who revealed a week
ago that he was pulling the plug on his re-election
bid and planning to resign from Congress sometime
around June. The Texas Senate districts that are
represented by State Senators Kyle Janek
of Houston and Tommy Williams of
The Woodlands have fewer voters who reside in
DeLay's congressional district than Jackson. Democratic
State Senators Ken Armbrister
of Victoria and Mario Gallegos
of Houston have portions of CD 22 in their Senate
districts as well.
The names of a couple of Texas House members
have also been mentioned as possible replacements
for DeLay on the fall ballot when an executive
committee made up of one precinct chair from each
of the four counties in CD 22 decides on a Republican
nominee for the fall. State Reps. Robert
Talton of Pasadena and Charlie
Howard have been the two most prominent
names that have been tossed around in the speculation
over the replacement nominee might be.
Several other House members represent various
parts of CD 22 including State Rep. Glenn
Hegar, a Katy farmer who appears on his
way to becoming a state senator as the Republican
nominee for Armbrister's seat in a district where
his only general election opponent is a Libertarian
candidate. State Reps. John Davis
of Houston, Glenda Dawson of
Pearland and Larry Taylor of
Friendswood also represent districts that overlap
with DeLay's U.S. House district.
The list of possible replacement candidates reportedly
includes Harris County Judge Robert Eckels,
Harris Tax Asssessor-Collector Paul Bettencourt
and Sugar Land Mayor David Wallace.
Jackson - a House member for 10 years before
joining the Senate - won the Senate District 11
seat by defeating Democrat Edward Wesley
in 1998 with 57 percent of the vote. Jackson's
only opponent in 2002 was a Libertarian - and
he was unopposed two years ago.
A Baton Rouge, Louisiana native, Jackson is the
president of a construction company. He was recently
chosen by Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst
to replace outgoing State Senator Jon
Lindsay as the chairman of the Senate
Nominations Committee.
Governor Rick Perry has indicated that he won't
be calling a special election for DeLay's seat
before CD 22 voters have an opportunity to decide
who their next representative will be in the November
general election. Once DeLay's resignation from
Congress becomes official, the precinct chairs
in the parts of the four counties that are located
in CD 22 will choose one of their own from each
county to be on a special committee that will
determine who will face Democratic nominee Nick
Lampson and Libertarian opposition in
the fall election. Lampson was a member of Congress
from the Beaumont area until the district he represented
was carved apart during a redistricting process
engineered by DeLay in 2003.
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