The AP reports: "Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday ordered a Nov. 7 special election to temporarily replace resigned US Rep. Tom DeLay, a date that coincides with the general election." In the general election, Nick Lampson "is the Democratic candidate. Republicans have thrown their support to Houston City Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs as a write-in candidate after the courts refused to remove DeLay name from the ballot."

And according to the New York Times, Sekula-Gibbs "said she would run in the special election. That means she will be on the ballot in the special election, but not in the general. Although some Republican strategists said that could leave voters hopelessly confused, Dr. Sekula-Gibbs, a dermatologist and member of the Houston City Council, said she believed that voters could cope with it."

Yeah, we all know how well voters 'cope' with election confusion. Was she asleep in a cave during Bush v. Gore?

Nevertheless, Sekula-Gibbs' listing on the Special Election ballot, but not the General Election ballot, means she is more likely to find victory in the Special Election since write-in candidates have rarely been successful in federal level general elections (about 4 times in the last 75 years).

The winner of the special election will fill DeLay's seat until his congressional term expires in January 2007. From there, the General Election winner will take over.

How does this help the Republicans in the long-run?

Governor Perry has called a special election for November 7th to fill Tom DeLay's seat from November 7th until the end of the year. Therefore, TX-22 voters will have to vote twice on election day - once in the special election, which will have ALL of the candidates on the ballot and once in the general election, which will not have a Republican on the ballot.

With this special election, the voter will have the name of the Republican candidate right there in front of them. As Democrats had signaled their intention to challenge any misspellings/variations of Republican front-runner Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, the special election is a life saver for the Texas GOP.

That's a 'life saver' alright. Tastes sweet at first but eventually dissolves into nothing.

Nick Lampson retains the edge in TX-22.