As if the race for Tom DeLay’s old seat weren’t confusing enough already, what with a hyphenated Republican write-in candidate, now voters will also have the opportunity to elect a temporary representative to fill the empty seat from November through January. The elections (general and special) will take place the same day.
As a benefit of Gov. Rick Perry’s move, voters will now see at least one ballot with the name of the official GOP candidate. Perry’s spokesperson says they waited this long because of DeLay’s legal wranglings.
The AP explains:
In the general election, Democrat Nick Lampson is the Democrat candidate, and Republicans have thrown their support behind Houston city councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs as a write-in candidate after the courts refused DeLay’s efforts to remove his name from the ballot.
Because both elections are on the same day, there’s a chance Lampson and Sekula-Gibbs could appear on both ballots. That means one of them could win both elections, taking over after the election and remaining in office for a two-year term starting in January.
