PrairiePundit

Nick Lampson's reelection bid in the occupied 22nd district got a little harder as the US Chamber of Commerce endorsed his opponent Republican Pete Olson. This probably suggest that Olson is leading in that District which Lampson won when Democrats kept a Republican off the ballot in 2006. The Democrats are having a harder time thwarting democracy this year and I suspect Olson has a good chance of defeating Lampson who cast a vote for Pelosi as speaker. That is not in his District's interest. She is wrong on the war and on energy and particularly drilling and she is wrong on taxes. Why should a Republican District vote for a guy who is going to support a leader who want even let the drilling issue come to a vote in Washington? Why isn't he in Washington with others trying to get that vote?

Houston Chronicle: The House Democratic leadership is trying to help Rep. Nick Lampson survive a tough re-election fight by advertising that he would be in line to take over the subcommittee overseeing NASA next year — if he wins in November. The rare pre-election commitment by allies to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., underscores efforts on Capitol Hill to strengthen the Stafford Democrat's bid for a second two-year term in a Republican-leaning district long represented by Tom DeLay, the former House Majority leader. Lampson's Republican opponent, Pete Olson, said the promised promotion will not have a significant impact on the race. It is, Olson said Thursday, "just another favor from Nancy Pelosi and just another example of how he's indebted to her and her brand of left-wing politics." "Voters know he's a liberal who doesn't represent their values and I do," said Olson, a former chief of staff to U.S. Sen. John Cornyn. Lampson rejected Olso...

AP /Examiner: Republicans still hot over the loss of two congressional districts to Democrats in 2006 - seats that traditionally have been theirs to hold - are looking to win them back this fall. But first, they must separate the wheat from the chaff in the March 4 primary. Both seats drew multiple candidates eager to take on incumbent Democratic Reps. Nick Lampson of the Houston suburb of Stafford and Ciro Rodriguez of San Antonio . Of Texas ' 30 other House seats, only 10 will hold contested primaries for one or both parties on March 4. Six incumbents face no challengers at all, and most other incumbents are likely to be safe in the general election. But the national Republicans have set their sights on finding someone who might toss Lampson and Rodriguez in November. "These are the ball game, absolutely," said Hans Klingler , state GOP spokesman. "Every congressional district is important, but 22 and 23 right now happen to be the most active challenger races ...

Houston Chronicle: Nick Lampson, the Democrat who gave the Republican Party heartburn by claiming Tom DeLay's House seat, has had a bull's-eye painted on his back by no less than Karl Rove's White House political machine. Tagged by the White House as the GOP's top House target for 2008, the Stafford lawmaker is running hard and racing to stockpile the campaign cash he'll need to fend off whoever emerges victorious from the passel of Republicans vying for their party's nomination. And perhaps most important, Lampson has tacked to the right to keep in sync with his heavily Republican 22nd District, which spans parts of Harris, Brazoria, Fort Bend and Galveston counties. Since returning to Congress this year after being pushed out in a 2004 redistricting plan engineered by DeLay, Lampson has refashioned himself. Gone is the moderate-to-liberal Beaumont Democrat from his earlier days in Congress. Nowadays, Lampson, 62, is keeping company with the Blue Dogs, a fis...

Washington Times: House Republicans plan to turn this summer's "stolen immigration vote" into a political rallying point for their base and a way to attack what they call the "power-thirsty" Democratic leadership. In a memo obtained by The Washington Times, key Republican aides outline their strategy for gaining traction from a bipartisan panel's investigation into the vote Republicans say Democrats "stole" before the August recess.... ... The so-called "stolen immigration vote" occurred during a House agricultural appropriations vote on whether to block taxpayer funds for illegal aliens. Republicans appeared to be winning the vote when they say Democrats responded by cutting off the vote and possibly altering the results. ... One of the key players in the vote switch was Congressman Nick Lampson who currently holds Tom DeLay's old seat. To give him some cover, three other Democrats were ordered to switch their vote at the same time....

Houston Chronicle: It may be up or out as Congressman Nick Lampson ponders his political future. The Stafford Democrat is giving serious consideration to entering the U.S. Senate race against Republican incumbent John Cornyn, well-connected Democrats in Texas and Washington say. Lampson's jaunt last weekend to San Antonio to mingle with donors at a fundraiser for the national Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee hasn't done anything to discourage the speculation — particularly since he underwent major heart surgery less than a month before and has yet to resume a full work schedule. Lampson's camp is being somewhat coy about the Senate race, as might be expected at this point. "He has been getting a lot of calls from lots of friends and supporters around the state asking him to look into it," said Mike Lykes, who just traded in his job as Lampson's chief of staff to become his campaign finance director. "He is just trying to concentrate right now o...