Texas's 22nd congressional district
Texas District 22 of the United States House of Representatives is the congressional district that covers a south-central portion of the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown metropolitan area. It includes the cities of Rosenberg and La Marque as well as portions of Missouri City and Pearland, in Fort Bend, Harris, Galveston, and Brazoria counties. Fifty-two percent of poll respondents identified themselves as Republicans, 32 percent as Democrats and 16 percent as independent.[1]
The district is represented by Democrat Nick Lampson.
2006 Election
On January 2, 2006, Nick Lampson filed to challenge incumbent Tom DeLay for the 2006 election, as a Democrat. Lampson had represented the adjacent ninth district) until DeLay engineered the 2003 Texas redistricting, after which Lampson lost his seat to Republican Ted Poe in 2004.
DeLay won the Republican primary on March 7 2006, taking 62% of the vote in the 4-way race.[2] It was DeLay's weakest showing in a primary election, which prompted questions about whether he could win the general election. On April 3 2006, three days after former aide Tony Rudy pleaded guilty to various charges of corruption relating to the Jack Abramoff scandal, DeLay announced that he would withdraw from the race and not run for re-election.[3][4]
Under Texas law, however, the Republican Party could not legally name another candidate for the 2006 election.[5] DeLay announced on August 8, 2006 that he would withdraw, in order to allow the party to organize a campaign for a write-in candidate.[6] The result was that no Republican was listed on the ballot for the two-year term that began in January, 2007.[7]
The Texas Republican Party supported Houston City Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs as their write-in candidate. [8]
Texas Governor Rick Perry announced on August 29 2006 that a special election would take place for the remainder of DeLay's term (November-December 2006). The election was held concurrently with the general election on November 7 2006. Voters cast votes twice on that date, once for the special election, once for the general election. This arrangement ensured that Sekula-Gibbs's name appeared on a November 7 ballot. Lampson chose not to run in the special election.
Sekula-Gibbs won the special election, and was sworn in on November 13 2006. She represented the district for the remaining few weeks of the 109th United States Congress. Sekula-Gibbs promised to fix health care, taxes, and immigration despite having two months in office.
Lampson won the general election, and was sworn in on January 4 2007.
Trivia
On the April 4, 2006 episode of The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert retired the 22nd Congressional District from the "Better Know A District" board in "honor" of Tom DeLay's resignation. However, on June 8, 2006, the eve of his leaving Congress, the district returned to the board as it was featured on the segment as a satirical "tribute" to DeLay, and was then followed by a fake interview segment with clips from three interviews DeLay had done in the past spliced together. The district was put back into retirement at the end of the segment.
2004 Election results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Tom DeLay | 150,386 | 55.2 | -8.0 | |
| Democratic | Richard Morrison | 112,034 | 41.1 | +6.0 | |
| Independent | Michael Fjetland | 5,314 | 1.9 | +1.9 | |
| Libertarian | Tom Morrison | 4,886 | 1.8 | +0.8 | |
| Majority | 38,352 | 14.1 | |||
| Turnout | 272,620 | ||||
| Republican hold | Swing | -7.0 | |||
2006 Election results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Nick Lampson | 76,775 | 51.79 | ||
| Republican | Shelley Sekula-Gibbs | 61,938 | 41.78 | ||
| Libertarian | Bob Smither | 9,009 | 6.07 | ||
| Write-in | Don Richardson | 428 | 0.28 | ||
| Write-in | Joe Reasbeck | 89 | 0.06 | ||
| Majority | 14,837 | 10.01 | |||
| Turnout | 148,239 | ||||
| Democratic gain from Republican | Swing | 10.69 | |||
References
- ^ "Write-in for DeLay spot has a shot" by Kristen Mack, Houston Chronicle, October 30, 2006
- ^ Texas Secretary of State
- ^ Aulds, T.J. (April 4 2006). "Tom DeLay to step down". The Galveston County Daily News.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Bash, Dana (April 3 2006). "Sources: DeLay to leave House re-election race". CNN. Retrieved 2006-04-19.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Elliot, Janet (June 27 2006). "Judge says DeLay 'withdrew': Statement may spell trouble for GOP, but 22nd District issue still awaits ruling". The Houston Chronicle.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ David Espo (August 8, 2006). "DeLay Vows to Take Name Off Texas Ballot". Guardian Unlimited.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Texas Secretary of State list of candidates for the November 7, 2006 general election, accessed September 16, 2006
- ^ CBS News