Burnt Orange Report

Some Republicans Looking to Take on Tom DeLay

By Byron LaMasters

Former U.S. Rep. Pete McCloskey is leading a group of Republicans who want to take out Tom DeLay in a GOP primary. The Houston Chronicle reports:

Former U.S. Rep. Pete McCloskey, in Houston Sunday for a conference on Palestinian issues, said he and other Republican elders are looking for a candidate to oppose U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land.

"Tom DeLay is an embarrassment to the Republican Party," said McCloskey, who represented Northern California from 1967 to 1983.

He met Sunday with Michael Fjetland, who was defeated by DeLay in Republican primaries in 2000 and 2002 and as an independent in the 2004 general election.

McCloskey is one of nine former congressmen who have formed an informal group he called the "revolt of the elders," to oppose congressmen who they think are guilty of ethics violations.

I wonder who the other eight former congressmen are?

Update: Via email, the list was published several weeks ago in the Houston Chronicle:

Mark Andrews, North Dakota, John H. Buchanan, Alabama, M. Caldwell Butler, Virginia, Paul Findley, Illinois, Bud Hillis, Indiana,James Johnson, Colorado, Richard W. Mallary, Vermont, Wiley Mayne, Iowa, G. William Whitehurst, Virginia, Pete McCloskey, California

Chis Elam adds his thoughts on the matter. I actually tend to agree with him that Mike Fjetland is delusional if he thinks he can get tens of thousands of Democrats to vote in the 2006 GOP primary to help oust Tom DeLay. The only way that Tom DeLay loses a Republican primary is if enough Republicans in CD 22 see him as someone that hurts their party.

However, if CD 22 Republicans believe that Democrats are attempting to hijack their primary, then Republicans who might otherwise turn against Tom DeLay would support Tom DeLay in order to maintain the integrity of their primary. Since there are more Republicans than Democrats in CD 22, then the suggestion that Democrats could help defeat Tom DeLay in a GOP primary is pretty much just a pipe dream.