With Tom DeLay in the news last week, I was going to mention the large percentage of Asians (about 24%) in Sugar Land, TX, contained in Tom DeLay’s Congressional district (TX #22) being a possible swing vote. I remember hearing this mentioned, out of the blue, on C-SPAN radio one morning, a couple months ago. But after a little more digging, I found out that they’re only 9.3% in the whole district. Is that still enough to make a difference?
Another question to ask is whether all Asian groups would vote Democratic. (By the way, the Dem candidate is Nick Lampson, a former Congressman from the Houston area.)
An article in last year’s New Republic magazine suggests that Asian nationality groups differ:
“The Indians are the most Democratic. The Pakistanis used to be Republican, but, along with other American Muslims, turned to the Democrats in the face of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim sentiment after September 11. The Vietnamese and Chinese were also initially Republicans, but have become increasingly receptive to Democratic support for civil rights.” (Judis, 2005)
As for DeLay’s situation, let me recount the recent electoral developments (ignoring the redistricting controversy and Abramoff scandal). After having won the Republican primary, DeLay resigned this past April and said he’d moved to Virginia. The Texas Republican party tried to remove his name from the general election ballot and began the process of selecting a replacement. The Democrats sued and a Federal judge in Austin ruled, last week, that DeLay could withdraw, but his name couldn’t be removed from the ballot. It seems that the ex-congressman couldn’t say where he’d be living on election day (Nov. 6), whether he’d still be living in TX. (He has a house in Sugar Land and his wife still lives there. He also lives in a condo in Virginia.) According to the judge’s ruling, the U.S. constitution takes precedence over state law, for an office like cong’l rep. The Republicans have appealed.
If DeLay’s name couldn’t be removed from the ballot, could he still win and then resign to make way for a replacement, as some local Republicans have suggested:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4032454.html
And even if the Democrat wins, given the Republican majority of voters in the district, Lampson stands a good chance of being defeated in the following election. (ibid)