Can the GOP replace DeLay?
The Law says NO:
145.035. WITHDRAWN, DECEASED, OR INELIGIBLE CANDIDATE'S NAME OMITTED FROM BALLOT. A candidate's name shall be omitted from the ballot if the candidate withdraws, dies, or is declared ineligible on or before the 74th day before election day. Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 211, 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1986. Amended by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 1109, ยง 7, eff. Sept. 1, 2005. 145.036. FILLING VACANCY IN NOMINATION. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), if a candidate's name is to be omitted from the ballot under Section 145.035, the political party's state, district, county, or precinct executive committee, as appropriate for the particular office, may nominate a replacement candidate to fill the vacancy in the nomination. (b) An executive committee may make a replacement nomination following a withdrawal only if: (1) the candidate: (A) withdraws because of a catastrophic illness that was diagnosed after the 62nd day before general primary election day and the illness would permanently and continuously incapacitate the candidate and prevent the candidate from performing the duties of the office sought; and (B) files with the withdrawal request a certificate describing the illness and signed by at least two licensed physicians; (2) no political party that held primary elections has a nominee for the office sought by the withdrawing candidate as of the time of the withdrawal; or (3) the candidate has been elected or appointed to fill a vacancy in another elective office or has become the nominee for another office. (c) Under the circumstances described by Subsection (b)(2), the appropriate executive committee of each political party making nominations for the general election for state and county officers may make a replacement nomination for the office sought by the withdrawing candidate. (d) For the purpose of filling a vacancy, a majority of the committee's membership constitutes a quorum. To be nominated, a person must receive a favorable vote of a majority of the members present. (e) A vacancy in a nomination for a district, county, or precinct office that was made by primary election may not be filled before the beginning of the term of office of the county executive committee members elected in the year in which the vacancy occurs.Read the Law UPDATE:The law is a bit more confusing for national elections. Follow the analysis on Swing State Project by blogger DavidNYC
