It’s good to have him back.
Nick Lampson
On Monday, former U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson told a crowd of about 40 supporters gathered at Texas City’s city hall that he was running in the newly drawn 14th District “because Congress is too polarized to find solutions to our serious problems, and I was there when we could.”
The district has been represented for the past 24 years by Rep. Ron Paul, R-Lake Jackson. Paul is retiring from Congress.
Lampson, 66, a former tax assessor for Jefferson County, served in the House for four terms before being defeated in 2005 in a redrawn House district that favored the GOP. He ran for office again and won a fifth term in 2006 before being defeated two years later by Rep. Pete Olson, R-Sugar Land.
Under the redrawn congressional maps, the 14th District will shift eastward into Jefferson County and has a minority population of about 35 percent.
Although the state’s new congressional redistricting plan still is being contested in the courts, the proposed lines for the 14th District are not expected to change. As drawn, it begins at the Louisiana border and follows the coastline past Freeport. It takes in Jefferson and Galveston counties, both areas Lampson has represented in the past, and part of Brazoria County.
Ron Paul may have represented CD14 for 24 years, but they’re not consecutive; he ousted party-switcher Greg Laughlin in the 1994 GOP primary after having been the 1988 Libertarian candidate for President. That story was printed before the new maps were handed down, but as expected CD14 didn’t change.
You know what you’re going to get with Lampson. He’s competent, hard-working, and does great constituent service. He’s also going to run a campaign – and if elected, have a voting record – that will frustrate progressives. That’s partly who he is, and partly what the district is, which is to say competitive but Republican-favored. The gap between President Obama and downballot Democrats in CD14 in 2008 was as much as eight points, so a campaign of measured disagreement with the President is on the menu. You can look at that and see whatever you want, but I see a man who’s been an ally of Planned Parenthood, labor, and education, to name a few. He’s also a heck of a nice guy, and I am very happy to see Nick Lampson out on the trail again.
Nick Lampson would be a great re-addition to congress and add some woefully needed seasoned, measured + thoughtful abilities into that house.
CD-23 is the obvious best target for Democrats. With Pete Gallego running there, Democrats also have a strong candidate. With Lampson running in CD-14, Democrats have another strong candidate in a district that would otherwise be a really long long shot. Assuming the Courts plan is really a go, and I think it will be, then I would roughly put the prob distribution of Democratic seats as:
11: 30%
12: 50%
13: 20%