The ever-alert Chris Elam of Texas Safety Forum has two items up that show why he's the man among local political bloggers.

First, Tom DeLay's main primary challenger, Tom Campbell, has issued a statement supporting Shelley Sekula-Gibbs in November.

Tom Campbell, who finished second in the Republican Congressional Primary in March, announced his endorsement today of Dr. Shelley Sekula-Gibbs as the Republican write-in candidate for the November general election. Campbell also called upon all other past and present District 22 candidates to join him in endorsing Dr. Sekula-Gibbs.

“This is no longer about personal goals. It is about principle,” Campbell said.

Speaking about Dr. Sekula-Gibbs’ selection, Campbell said, “Supporting Shelley is the right thing. Uniting behind a single candidate grounded in Republican values and principles will result in victory. She is worthy of our support and worthy to carry our Republican standard into this election. Even as a write-in, a conservative Sekula-Gibbs can beat liberal Nick Lampson in District 22.”

Campbell attended the meeting of Republican precinct leaders from Harris, Fort Bend, Brazoria and Galveston Counties on Thursday and observed the process. “These are the people that Republicans across the district elected to represent our party,” Campbell said. “These are good men and women working to find a way to unite the Republican Party at a time when unity is essential. They decided to select one candidate that would carry our party’s banner in the November election. Dr. Sekula-Gibbs emerged as the clear winner. The process was fair – everyone had an opportunity to speak.”

About Tom DeLay's role in the meeting, Campbell added, "The Tom DeLay era is over. Dr. Sekula-Gibbs was not hand picked by our former congressman. She was the clear choice of representatives from all four counties in District 22. The cloud of scandal no longer hangs over this race. Now the election can be about the important issues facing our country. I challenge Nick Lampson to stop the muckraking - stop the litigation and let the people decide.”

Tom Campbell made an attempt to get the nomination before the Democrats stopped the process, but got very little traction among the GOP precinct chairs. He is prohibitted by law from running as a write-in candidate. He did, however, get an invite to attend our meeting last week as an observer, and so his statement in the final paragraph that Shelley Sekula-Gibbs is not Tom Delay's Hand-picked successor ought to carry weight with anyone who cares about the truth.

And to add one observation, Campbell's statement proves what i have always believed about him -- he is a good and decent man whose actions wee based upon what he believed was best for CD22. He was simply over his head in a race that no opponent of the incumbent could have won.

And it appears that David Wallace may be making a move of some significance on Monday.

Sugar Land Mayor David Wallace is speaking for the first time since finding out his party won't support him. Wallace wants to be a write-in candidate to replace Republican Tom DeLay in Congress.

The first person to file as a Republican write-in candidate, Mayor Wallace had not commented publicly ever since Republican precinct chairs chose someone else to throw their support behind. But now, he's opening up to Eyewitness News about the unusual selection process and his future plans.

While it's no secret that Wallace wants the job DeLay left behind, it's also quite obvious that on Thursday, Republican precinct chairs picked someone else -- Houston Councilmember Shelly Sekula-Gibbs to support. And Wallace admits he's not a fan of the closed door selection process.

"We've got a large voter base in Congressional District 22 and having the voice of 83 individuals coming together, is that representative of the entire district?" he asked.

* * *

Mayor Wallace says he'll be announcing his decision on whether to stay in the race on Monday. And a lot of people will be waiting for an answer.

"With all of the different changes that took place this week, obviously I am doing a lot of soul searching, meeting with a number of representatives to talk about the next step and that'll be announced on Monday," he said.

My guess is that he is OUT -- and if he isn't, I point back to my earlier comment on his candidacy.

Posted by: Greg at 06:05 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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