Texas just gets weirderer and weirderer. I really have very little to add to this idea of one seat, one day, two elections. Read on, MacDuff ...
Over at
TPMMuckraker they've got this goofy, goofy story:
Gov Perry Calls TX-22 Special Election
As if the race for Tom DeLay's old seat weren't confusing enough already, what with a hyphenated Republican write-in candidate, now voters will also have the opportunity to elect a temporary representative to fill the empty seat from November through January. The elections (general and special) will take place the same day.
As a benefit of Gov. Rick Perry's move, voters will now see at least one ballot with the name of the official GOP candidate. Perry's spokesperson says they waited this long because of DeLay's legal wranglings.
My strong recommendation is not to hypothesize to excess about what effect this permutation would have on the election ... er, ELECTIONS:
Because both elections are on the same day, there's a chance Lampson and Sekula-Gibbs could appear on both ballots. That means one of them could win both elections, taking over after the election and remaining in office for a two-year term starting in January.
I rather expected a special election, like the one to fill Cunningham's California seat, but apparently the legal wrangling "DeLayed" this process to the point that it makes sense (?) to hold it on election day.
Nothing witty to add--just a strange incident in a strange year if you ask me.