Shelley in Washington

"What I Did On My Christmas Vacation", by Congressperson Shelley Sekula Gibbs.

"I'm working hard to accomplish the things I'm working for," she said yesterday. "For tax cuts. For immigration reform. To make sure we have a good solution for the war in Iraq."

All that? In a few weeks?

"If there's a way to do it, I'll do it," she said, smiling beneath her bright blond hair. "I'll deal with the leadership to get as much done as possible."

I have to agree with The Muse here: The WaPo writer tried to take this assignment seriously, but didn't quite manage it. Not his fault, either.

I mean what can you say about this (link and excerpt via BOR)?

The woman who was sworn in this week as the interim Republican successor to ex-Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) was, shall we say, not a hit with holdover DeLay aides.

In fact, they showed their feelings about their new boss Tuesday by walking out of the office en masse and resigning, effective immediately. The DeLay refugees, who included DeLay's personal chief of staff, David James, walked out of the office, Von Trapp family-style (though without the singing) and huddled at Starbucks to get their wits about them.

She showed up to take over DeLay's old office on Thursday and, according to sources familiar the office dynamics, was "mean" to the staff. On Tuesday, at her new Member's open-house reception in the office, sources charged that she was less than pleased that neither President Bush nor Vice President Cheney showed up with the rest of the welcome wagon.

Raw Story has more (via Muse).

It just keeps getting better:

It was [Rep. Nick] Lampson who got the perk of being invited to a White House reception for newly elected lawmakers.

It turns out Lampson came too late for freshman orientation when he first joined Congress after a runoff victory in 1996. So he's going through it now, drawing no small amount of attention for being the Democrat who wrested DeLay's vacated seat from the Republicans.

Because Lampson was drummed out of his Beaumont-area seat in 2004 as a result of the election boundary changes engineered by DeLay, perhaps he could be excused if he were to revel in his newfound political celebrity status.

But Lampson, who defeated Sekula-Gibbs for the two-year term that begins in January, says he's operating in a gloat-free zone.

"It's nice to be welcomed back by my colleagues who are appreciative of what I did. But all of this presents, in my opinion, an opportunity for us to sort of turn the other cheek," Lampson said Tuesday. "We have an opportunity to cut the 'nutso' partisanship and do good policy."

But if Sekula-Gibbs felt slighted, she didn't let on.

"This is the fulfillment of the American dream," she said Monday night, shortly before she walked onto the House floor for the first time.

Sekula-Gibbs was introduced to the House by a fellow Texas Republican, Rep. Joe Barton of Ennis, and pledged in a short speech to give her 22nd Congressional District constituents "the first-rate representation that they deserve."

She can surely provide better representation than CD22 has had over the past, oh, six months or so. Actually, probably much farther back than that, too.

Sekula-Gibbs got her House voting card and instructions from Barton on how to use it. She then cast her first three votes Monday, including one on a bill to normalize trade relations with Vietnam. She voted yes. The bill failed.

Every story about a scrappy underdog has to start out with a demoralizing defeat. Now that's been taken care of.

Between votes, Sekula-Gibbs got hugs and handshakes from fellow lawmakers. She even got a peck on the cheek from Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Democrat and fellow Houstonian. Both were on the Houston City Council before being elected to Congress.

I'm with Lair on this one: I hope someone got a picture of that.

This has all been fun, but here's a serious question (which Hal is also asking): When, exactly is Congressperson Sekula Gibbs going to resign her seat on Houston City Council? The aforelinked Chron story doesn't raise the point. Well, I'm not sure when the special election will be officially certified (Hal thinks it's today), but Shelley has been sworn in, has cast votes, and is busy dealing with staff issues, all the while seeking to restore America's fiscal sanity. So when will she officially become a former City Council member? Anybody know the answer to this?

UPDATE: HouStoned has more.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on November 15, 2006 to Election 2006 | TrackBack