Thought Theater

Scalia Rules DeLay Will Stay On Ballot genre: Polispeak

The attempts by Tom DeLay and the Republican Party to have the Supreme Court intervene to allow the removal of his name from the ballot was quickly denied by Justice Scalia. DeLay won the primary for the congressional seat prior to deciding to quit the position. To achieve the removal DeLay attempted to argue that having his permanent residence changed to Virginia should allow the Party to replace him on the November ballot. Reuters has the full story here.

Texas Republican Party chairwoman Tina Benkiser had requested an emergency stay of the ruling by a U.S. appeals court until Republicans can formally ask the Supreme Court to review the case.

But Scalia rejected the request, acting just a couple of hours after it was received.

The appeals court ruled last week that the state Republican Party could not replace DeLay, who said he would not seek re-election and resigned from Congress in June after polls showed he might lose his suburban Houston district to a Democrat.

After resigning, DeLay moved to Virginia so the Texas Republican Party chairwoman could declare him ineligible under state election law. But both a federal judge and the appeals court ruled that DeLay must be on the ballot.

Clearly, DeLay's actions are commensurate with his prior approach to politics...always pushing the limits and attempting to manipulate the system. His connections to lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his indictment in Texas may signal the end of DeLay's ability to pull political strings at will.