Contested Republican primary in CD22?

With all the talk about which Democrats may or may not try to run against Tom DeLay in CD22, seldom is the question asked "What about the Republican primary?" Stina points to this Lawtalkers thread which indicates there are rumblings on the Republican side of the house. One of the names being mentioned is two-time primary challenger Michael Fjetland. I sent Mike an email asking about all this, and here is his reply:

FYI, former GOP Rep Pete McCloskey is coming to Houston to interview me April 30 - he's leading a 'revolt of the elders' - basically he wants the GOP to reform or the moderates bail out and become Democrats. LOL. So this is the last attempt.

Strategy wise, it would help Dems to help a GOP challenger to DeLay - he can be knocked out with only 30,000 votes in the GOP primary (the max who voted in the last primary I ran in in 2002) vs the 150,000 Republcian votes DeLay got in the general in '04.

Dems maxed at 110,000 in Nov '04 -- enough to influence a primary (and give their candidate a 'newbie' to challenge instead of an incumbent) but 110,000 is not enough to win a general in a 60/40 district.

If Morrison or Quan are the candidates even I could beat them. If it's Lampson, it would be tough for any GOP candidate to beat him, since his old district is part of the new D22.

[...]

But I'm telling McCloskey there is no use running again unless there is FUNDING. He says if I run as a Republican, there is national funding available.

You heard it here first. Fjetland noted in a followup email that the 20% he got against DeLay in 2002 was done on $5000 and after being temporarily kicked off the ballot. What could he do with some real funding? We may find out.

Elsewhere, DeLayWatch From The District reports on other activity:

The Forum has been contacted several times by Republicans from the District and by some National Republican interests about the dissatisfaction that many mainstream Repbublicans feel about how Tom DeLay has taken his extremism beyond their values. As one might hope, many Republicans do not share Tom DeLay's weird worldview. Now some are voicing their discomfort with their politics being lumped in with what Tom DeLay has come to stand for.

Patricia Baig is a Repbublican from Fort Bend County (in the District) who put her money where her mouth is and took out a full page ad in her local paper to invite Republicans to protest Tom DeLay's recent speech at a local convention. The Republicans tried to discredit her, as they always do when they don't like the message, but she stands tall as a Republican who cannot tolerate Tom DeLay's intolerance for people. The Forum and Patricia Baig made contact and are entering some interesting areas for further discussion.

After a lengthy talk on the phone the Forum agreed to forward the contact information for several Repbublicans who have been contact with the Forum to Ms. Baig to see if they would be interested in working with her in future efforts. Watch this blog for further announcements regarding whether this will be a bi-partisan Forum or whether it will be working with a Republican group with similar objectives. Ms. Baig is not going away and she represents a growing sentiment in the District that Republicans have had enough of Tom DeLay.

Stay tuned.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on April 21, 2005 to Election 2006 | TrackBack