Court rules GOP can't replace DeLay on ballot

Glory!!!!

We may well have Dem. victory in Delay Sugar Land!!!!

HoustonChronicle.com - Court rules GOP can't replace DeLay on ballot:

AUSTIN - A federal appeals court panel today in a bipartisan order ruled that former U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay cannot be replaced on the November ballot for the congressional seat he vacated in June.

The Republican Party said it will quickly file an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, but if it loses, DeLay will have to decide whether to actively campaign for office. He has hinted that he might.

Texas Republican Chair Tina Benkiser had ruled DeLay was ineligible to serve because he had moved to Virginia, opening the door for Republicans to replace him on the ballot.
The Texas Democratic Party sued, saying it was a subterfuge and that he had not really moved to Virginia.
The three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals found in the Democrats' favor and upheld an injunction preventing the Republicans from replacing DeLay. The panel said the U.S. Constitution's only requirement for office is that DeLay be a resident of Texas on election day.

'When Benkiser reviewed the public records sent by DeLay and concluded that his residency in Virginia made him ineligible, she unconstitutionally created a pre-election inhabitancy requirement,' said the opinion written by Judge Pete Benavides for himself and Judges James L. Dennis and Edith Clement.

Benavides and Dennis were appointed to the court by former President Bill Clinton. Clement was appointed by President Bush, and he has considered the conservative jurist for an appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court.
'Five judges have now looked at this, two of them appointed by conservative presidents,' said Democratic lawyer Chad Dunn. 'It's time to move on, and Mr. DeLay needs to decide whether he wants to be in the race.'