DeLay is saying that he shouldn't be on the ballot because he is no longer a Texas resident. The judge isn't buying it saying that the Texas constitution only requires that DeLay be a resident of the state on election day. According to the article, the judge ruled the way he did because "DeLay could not say where he would be on election day."
From the article:
"The court holds that allowing Benkiser to declare DeLay ineligible at this time would amount to a de facto residency requirement in violation of the United States Constitution,'' Sparks said in his opinion.
It appears as though Judge Sparks is referring to Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution:
No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.
It seems to me that if DeLay were to announce his intent not to be a resident of Texas on election day or the time afterward he should be declared ineligible. Candidates who have no intention of meeting the requirements of office shouldn't be on the ballot. Removing candidates from the ballot who don't, or will not, meet these requirements doesn't seem to be unconstitutional to me.
On a related note, wouldn't you just hate to be the Demcorat candidate in this election? Demcorat Nick Lampson has got to be feeling a little bit like a fool. Even if DeLay is forced to stay on the ballot and Lampson wins the victory is going to be a hollow one. Defeating a candidate who was forced onto the ballot against his wishes is sort of like a regular athlete winning the gold in the Special Olympics. I mean sure, you won....but whoop-de-doo.
And what happens if DeLay wins anyway? I mean, talk about your all-time backfires.
It seems like a lose-lose situation for the Demcorats to me. If they win it will be a hard victory to campaign on once Lampson has to run for re-election, and if they lose it'd be just plain embarrassing.
The Dems would have been better off just letting the GOP put in a real candidate.