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DeLay Re-election Will Get Rocket Boost
Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, will soon receive a rocket boost in his bid for re-election in Texas’ 22nd district. He will soon reclaim his spot on the House Appropriations Committee. More importantly, sources told The Hill that DeLay would be appointed chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over spending on NASA. DeLay’s suburban Houston district includes the Johnson Space Center and he has frequently sought to increase NASA’s presence in the Houston area. His new post will afford him significant power over the details of NASA’s budget. DeLay spokeswoman Shannon Flaherty told NewsMax that DeLay would use the position for the benefit of NASA and his own district.
Story Continues Below "Congressman DeLay,” she said, "has strong support among the NASA community and the Port region because he has delivered on their priorities, and reclaiming his appropriations seat will allow him to be even more directly involved in securing vital funding.” He might need all the help he can get in his bid for re-election. The 11-term congressman is facing criminal charges of conspiracy to violate election laws for allegedly funneling corporate contributions into 2002 state elections in Texas. DeLay maintains it is a politically motivated prosecution related to his remarkable success in re-drawing Texas’ congressional boundaries to win seats for Republicans in Washington. "I have the facts, the law, and the truth on my side,” DeLay said shortly after his indictment in 2005. The trial has taken its toll on DeLay’s popularity, and he now faces what could be the most difficult election of his career in Washington. His likely opponent in November is former congressman Nick Lampson, a Democrat who lost his seat as a result of DeLay’s successful redistricting effort in 2003. But the redistricting scheme also hurt DeLay. His district gained five percent more Democrats.
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