Texas Republicans plan to vote for Delay, despite his intention not to run

A CNN news report today confirmed that Justice Antonin Scalia rejected a request for an appeal on the Delay ballot verdict. Texas Republican lawmakers tried to remove Tom Delay's name from the November ballot, despite him having won their primary election, because he said he had decided after being wrapped up in political corruption scandals. Democrats argued that replacing Delay on the ballot with a Republican who was not democratically chosen in a primary is not only unfair, but unconstitutional. Justice Scalia agreed with the lower court's ruling.

But Texas Republicans statewide were not deterred on Wednesday as they began a fierce campaign to elect Delay, against his wishes. Republicans in his district recognize that a write-in candidate has never won a general election, and that any Republican who runs might accidentally split votes with Delay on the ballot, as some uninformed voters will still just check the Republican box. Instead, they plan on pushing Delay, despite his abhorrent polling numbers, through to the election, hoping to send a Republican back to DC and send a clear message to the country that corruption isn't that big of a deal.

Democrats were jovial upon hearing this news, as a push for Delay will most definitely send votes to a candidate that cannot win. Texas Democratic Party chairman Boyd Richie said at a press conference this morning, "this Pro-Delay push is ridiculous, and we wouldn't mind seeing it continue."

But Republicans who support the 'Delay Should Run' movement are still holding strong. "He knew what he was getting into when he ran for that primary," said local Sugarland resident and Delay neighbor Molly Fitzwallis. "So what if we later learned he accepted money illegally and then used it to gerry-mander the state's districts. That doesn't remove him from his obligation to run on the Republican ticket." She later added, "That is of course unless he's in jail... that actually does remove him from his obligation to run on the Republican ticket."