| A survey to gauge Republican voters' preference of U.S. Congressional candidate in District 22 did not include the name of Michael Fjetland, a four-time candidate against DeLay.
Fjetland, who most recently ran against DeLay in the 2006 March primary, said he did not ask for his name to be taken off the survey, which was funded by the Fort Bend County Republican Party and sent to all residents who voted in the last three Republican primaries.
The survey was written by Eric Thode, whose term as Fort Bend County Republican Party Chairman ended on Monday. Gary Gillen of Richmond was elected to succeed Thode.
Fjetland said that Thode made the decision based on an entry to his own website and a local political website. Thode never called or wrote Fjetland personally, he said.
"The only thing I put in my blog is that if there is a special election, I would not run because that would be a total zoo," he said.
A special election is a different process from the replacement nominee process.
The survey lists the names of individuals who have expressed interest in being appointed as the Republican nominee for District 22 if U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay resigns this summer.
DeLay won a four-person primary in March for a place on the November ballot against Democrat Nick Lampson and Libertarian Bob Smither, but shortly afterwards announced he will be resigning from office in mid-June.
The replacement nominee must now be chosen by a four-person committee consisting of one precinct chair from each county in District 22, and Thode created the survey with the approval of Gillen.
Thode on Monday compared removing Fjetland's name to his decision to remove the names of Harris County Judge Robert Eckels and Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Paul Bettencourt, who have both announced they will not seek the Republican appointment.
Thode said he "lovingly" told Fjetland that his "legion of supporters" can write his name into the survey.
The candidates listed in the survey are Pat Baig, Tom Campbell, John Devine, Charlie Howard, Mike Jackson, Don Richardson, Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, Robert Tarlton, Larry Taylor and David Wallace.
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