WASHINGTON -- The political slide shows that landed President Bush’s adviser Karl Rove in the middle of an investigation named the congressman who replaced former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay as the White House’s No. 1 target.

Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Texas, tops the list of the “2008 House Targets: Top 20”, part of a presentation made to executive branch employees, possibly illegally.

Critics have alleged the presentation was political and violated laws restricting executive branch employees from using their jobs for political activity.

The White House has defended the presentations as informational briefings for appointees and acknowledged last week there have been briefings at several agencies.

Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, D-Texas, also was on the list at No. 12.

The presentation was known to have been made at the General Services Administration in January. Last week, the White House acknowledged it made the presentation of the targeted Democrats and vulnerable Republicans to about 20 federal agencies.

One of those agencies was NASA, the Washington Post reported, which has a strong presence in Lampson’s Houston-area district through Johnson Space Center, where astronauts are trained and mission control is located.

“We’ve seen a tendency to overpoliticize things at the White House often at the expense of the public good. We hope nothing like trying to move part of JSC to another part of NASA, or nothing like that would happen [as a result],” said Kier Murray, Lampson’s campaign spokesman.

The presentations are being investigated by the Office of Special Counsel, a little known federal agency. Its job is to enforce the Hatch Act, a 70-year-old law that bars federal employees from engaging in political activities using government resources or on government time. A hearing on the GSA presentation also was held by the House Office of Oversight and Government Reform.

Lampson was re-elected to Congress last year after sitting out a couple years. He lost in 2004 after his district was redrawn in a mid-decade redistricting led by DeLay. His district is heavily Republican and conservative and he faces a tough re-election bid.

DeLay withdrew from his 2006 general election race against Lampson after a court ruled the Republican Party could not replace him on the ballot. He resigned from Congress in June.

Instead of DeLay, Republicans were forced to run a write-in candidate, who lost.

Murray said there’s no doubt Lampson, who is recovering from quadruple bypass surgery in Texas, faces a tough re-election battle.

“His re-election, while we feel confident, will be challenging,” Murray said. “He’s spending a lot of his time out in the community building and strengthening relationships and is well received out there.”

While trying to build support, Lampson also is giving thought to challenging Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who is seen as vulnerable by national and state Democrats. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which must divide its money and campaign resources for 2008 Senate races, already has conducted polling in the race, indicating its interest.

“Senator Cornyn has a solid record of accomplishment, works very hard for his constituents and regularly travels throughout the state,” said spokesman Brian Walsh. “As every political analyst who has looked at this race agrees, any Democrat will have a tough, uphill road against him.”

Cornyn reported this month he had about $3.8 million cash on hand at the end of March, while Lampson reported having $261,609 cash for the same period.