 | | Sekula-Gibbs
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| The candidate picture for the District 22 Congressional seat took another shift Thursday, with two officials considering a run dropping out, and another name being added on.
Houston City Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs on Thursday announced she will be seeking the Republican nomination for the District 22 position.
The at-large councilwoman made her decision just as Harris County Judge Robert Eckels decided against making a run for the office, to be vacated soon by U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land.
Also, Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Paul Bettencourt decided against seeking the nomination for District 22, said Fort Bend County Chairman-elect Gary Gillen.
DeLay announced in early April he will be leaving his office in mid-summer, and Sekula-Gibbs is one of several prominent Republicans seeking to replace him on the November ballot for the 2006 election.
Also included on this list is Sugar Land Mayor David Wallace, State Rep. Charlie Howard of Sugar Land and Sugar Land attorney Tom Campbell.
Campbell came in second to DeLay in the March primary election.
The Republican nominee would be chosen by precinct chairs from the four counties in District 22.
The replacement process can only take place if DeLay is declared ineligible to run for the spot in 2006. DeLay plans to move out of his Sugar Land home and into his residence in Virginia, in order to be found ineligible.
Sekula-Gibbs is the only hopeful so far to create a Congressional campaign Web site. She said she will remain in office through the nomination process, but and will step down if nominated.
She said she would be able to mount an effective campaign against Democratic Party nominee Nick Lampson, who has been campaigning for almost a year and has raised $2.5 million.
Also running is Libertarian Bob Smithers.
"I'm not waiting (to campaign), because any candidate who is not working hard for the nomination will not work hard in Washington," she said.
She touts her experience in a government covering more than 2 million people, and said she recently secured $20 million in federal funding for law enforcement officers for not only Harris County and Houston, but also Fort Bend County.
"I believe I can offer a very clear voice for conservative values in Washington. And I've demonstrated that by going to Washington many times over the last several years and being successful on several fronts," she said.
Sekula-Gibbs, 50, lives in the district in Clear Lake, which was annexed by Houston. She practices dermatology in Webster.
Fort Bend County Republican Chairman Eric Thode, who will be replaced by Gillen on May 1, explained the nominating process at Thursday night's meeting of the county's Republican Party executive committee.
Thode said he has been involved in three similar procedures in the past, but for Texas Court of Appeals cases that drew very little attention.
He said that if DeLay moves to Virginia, he would then write a letter to the Texas Republican Party Chair Tina Benkiser, asking her to take his name off the November general election ballot in District 22.
The state party chair would then contact the county chairmen of Fort Bend, Brazoria, Harris and Galveston counties. In each county, the precinct chairs who live in District 22 will nominate one person to represent their county.
The four precinct chairmen selected would then convene to nominate the replacement candidate.
No procedures have been outlined for either the selection of the precinct chairs or the party's nominee. Thode said he does not know, for instance, if votes would be conducted by secret ballot or by a raise of hands.
On the day of the final selection, Thode said the parties may want to invite hopefuls to make presentations before the committee, but that will be their decision.
Thode did say, however, he would like to see the process as "wide open as possible," and to hold the event at a large venue and invite the media and general public to observe, as an assurance the selection won't happen in a "smoke-filled room."
Thode said he believes the four precinct chairs will decide on a candidate, and he confirmed that three of the four need to agree on a candidate.
If no decision can be made at the local level, the state Republican Party executive committee would make the decision for the district.
Thode raised the possibility that DeLay could decide against resigning his office, but that he could still move out of his Sugar Land home and make himself ineligible for the 2006 election. The nomination process would proceed as planned, but DeLay would stay in his office through Dec. 31.
Also, Thode announced in an e-mail Friday morning that he will be sending out a survey to Fort Bend County residents who voted in the Republican primary, asking who should be nominated for the office.
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