Judge's ruling keeps DeLay on ballot

From the Houston Chronicle:

DeLay had sought to have state Republican Chair Tina Benkiser declare him ineligible by moving from Sugar Land to his condominium in Virginia. But Sparks said that would not make him ineligible because the requirement under the Constitution is whether DeLay is an inhabitant of Texas on election day.

Sparks said contradicting evidence raised questions about whether DeLay planned to remain a resident of Virginia, but he said that did not matter because DeLay could not say where he would be on election day.

"The court holds that allowing Benkiser to declare DeLay ineligible at this time would amount to a de facto residency requirement in violation of the United States Constitution,'' Sparks said in his opinion.

Sparks' ruling halts the process of replacing DeLay on the ballot, but the GOP has appealed the decision to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. James Bopp Jr., a GOP lawyer said the party will ask that the case be rendered this month.

If the Republicans lose on appeal, DeLay will have to decide whether to campaign for an office from which he already has resigned.

Click here for the rest.

Hahaha!

I have no idea how the appeal is going to turn out because, you know, I'm not a lawyer. However, I am going to bask in this ruling for the time being. It's pretty obvious that this maneuver is pretty much more of the same from DeLay. He's pushed so hard against the legal limit time and again that he has undoubtedly crossed the line on more than one occasion--that's why he's why he's under indictment, for playing fast and loose with campaign law. It strikes me that he's been pretty lucky in his aggressiveness over the years, but my gut instinct tells me that his luck has run out. That is, I have a feeling, for whatever it's worth, that the ruling will stand, and DeLay will either have to run an embarrassing campaign for an office that he will most certainly lose, or sit it out, allowing the his Democratic opponent Nick Lampson to win unopposed. Either way, the former bug exterminator from Sugarland will be utterly humiliated.

And I will be very happy.

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