Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Court: DeLay must remain on ballot

|
|
 
  
Published: July 6, 2006 at 9:17 PM

HOUSTON, July 6 (UPI) -- Former Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, must stay on the Texas ballot in November, a Texas judge ruled Thursday.

DeLay, who is being prosecuted for allegedly violating state campaign finance law, ran for re-election and won the Republican primary earlier this year -- but then decided that his legal troubles were putting his seat at risk. He moved to Virginia and said he was withdrawing as a candidate in the 22nd district of Texas.

Democrats challenged state Republicans' contention that the party could choose a replacement candidate. U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks ruled Thursday that DeLay must remain on the GOP ballot for November's election.

Republican Party lawyer James Bopp Jr. said an appeal would be filed with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, The New York Times reported.

Sparks, a Republican appointee, said last week that allowing parties to drop unpopular candidates could lead to abuse.

"It can happen in every race in this state for every office," Sparks said.

Topics: James Bopp, Sam Sparks, Tom DeLay
© 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
The Tibetan Moniam Festival in China Super Bowl XLVI ticker tape victory parade The making of the Oscars
The Chicago Auto Show The Most Desirable Women of 2012 Tu Bishvat Migron settlement
Additional Top News Stories
1 of 25
Meryl Streep and Colin Firth attend the "BAFTA" ceremony in London
View Caption
fark
Not many companies can claim that their net domain address clearly explains what it is that the...
"Any self-important, self-propagating elitist, I will happily bare my buttocks to"
You don't have to be too smart to coach high school sports. Just smart enough to not post nude photos...
There's vandalizing your school, and then there's doing a million dollars damage to your school
Police say Taylor Burnham, 18, was only wearing cowboy boots as she led police on a Sunday morning...
If you're working as a dog groomer and accidentally chop off a dog's ear, don't try to glue it back,...