A Lampson - Delay matchup would be great! Imagine the Lampson ads if Delay has to stay on the ballot..."He didn't want to be here. He moved to Virginia. the GOP didn't want him on the ballot. They fough to keep him off. But you Texans finally get to settle matter by voting against him!".
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Lampson war chest at $3 million
Associated Press
Nick Lampson, the Democrat who faced former U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay on the November ballot until DeLay resigned, has raised more than $600,000 during the most recent reporting period, bringing his total raised to about $3 million, his campaign said today.
DeLay resigned in June and wants his name off the ballot, leaving the district without a representative in the U.S. House until after the election and Lampson without an opponent.
While the Republican side of the ballot is undecided, Lampson has been raising money, campaigning and beginning television advertising in the largely Republican district that sweeps across Houston's southern and western suburbs.
"Texans respond to the fact that I will return to Congress with eight years seniority and that, in 2001, I brought home more resources than any member of the Texas delegation — including Tom DeLay," Lampson said in a statement. "That's why seventy-one percent of the money raised this quarter came from right here in Texas."
Lampson raised $609,000 in the three months ending June 30. His campaign said he had raised $2.9 million since launching his campaign and has more than $2 million in cash on hand.
A federal judge ruled last month that DeLay's name must stay on the ballot, but Republicans have appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. DeLay resigned from Congress, has made his condominium in Virginia his primary residence and isn't actively campaigning.
But DeLay has said he will wait until after that court rules before deciding whether to jump back in the race. "They may get exactly what they want," he told supporters in Sugar Land last week.
Calls to DeLay's spokeswoman were not immediately returned.
The GOP wants DeLay replaced with another candidate.
Meanwhile, DeLay is awaiting trial on state conspiracy and money laundering charges connected to the funding of state legislative races in 2002.
Lampson served four terms in Congress representing a district that was redrawn in a DeLay-engineered redistricting that cost Lampson his seat in 2004. |
