The Chronicle endorses candidates in Houston-area races for the House of Representatives
In what should be taken by voters as an indication of just how much support Tom DeLay has lost over his recent rebukes from the House ethics committee, the Houston Chronicle this morning endorsed his Democratic opponent in District 22, Richard Morrison.
DeLay still seems to think that he has this election locked up, but the Chronicle’s endorsement of Morrison is an indication of just how tired many of us are with DeLay’s corruption and venality.
A Democrat who promises to place the district’s interests above grasping for partisan power in Washington, Morrison seeks to unseat the long-serving Republican incumbent, U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay. Morrison, an environmental lawyer and Sugar Land resident, vows to do a better job in securing federal funds for Houston-area transportation and homeland security. Morrison says he would work to close corporate tax loopholes and invest more in education and health care. He is personally opposed to abortion….
DeLay has been reprimanded several times by the House ethics committee for an indifference to the rules that reflects poorly on the House and on Texas. Most recently, the committee’s bipartisan membership admonished DeLay for offering a favor in exchange for a colleague’s vote; giving the appearance of wrongdoing by exchanging access on the golf course for campaign contributions from energy executives; and improperly trying to use federal aviation officials to locate Democratic legislators who had fled Texas.
DeLay’s misplaced priorities were most evident in his previous ban on federal rail transit funds for Houston, causing the funds to go to other cities. DeLay was behind the redistricting effort in Texas that displaced badly needed property tax relief and school finance reform as the Austin leadership’s top priorities.
Morrison faces an uphill battle in this race. The Houston region and the entire country will be better off if he succeeds.
Indeed, DeLay’s misplaced priorities have always centered around his own political self-aggrandizement. As an effective fundraiser and even more-effective fear-monger, he has been able to pull the wool over the eyes of his constituents for too long now.
Of course, running in a district that is new to him because of his success in gerrymandering the Texas political map, his re-election is not the slam dunk it was in years past. Wouldn’t it be sweet if DeLay’s defeat in November came in large part because of his new district? Live by the sword, die by the sword.
The Chronicle’s endorsement is but one voice, albeit one that reaches many households in District 22. There is still time, and perhaps this endorsement will set his constituents to thinking about whether or not they really want to continue to be represented by a corrupt, mean-spirited martinet. It’s time for a change, y’all. WE DESERVE BETTER.
