06:33 PM CDT on Friday, July 7, 2006

By Doug Miller / 11 News

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Who will replace Tom DeLay or will Tom DeLay replace himself?

Now that a federal judge has ruled that Republicans cannot replace DeLay’s name on the November ballot, the future of his old seat in Congress is wide open.

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Tom DeLay mingles with supporters in Sugar Land

Outside Sugar Land’s city hall stands a statue of Stephen F. Austin saving a horse that’s fallen into troubled waters.

Now the trouble in Tom DeLay’s old congressional district has Republicans wondering whether they’ll have a horse to ride come November.

“Well, it’s gonna be a difficult situation, I think, to handle,” DeLay himself, speaking to a lunch crowd of suppoters has given a hint of what might happen if that judge’s order stands.

“I am forced to be on the ballot.  And the Democrats are just loving it.  Well, they may get exactly what they want,” said DeLay.

His supporters roared their approval, but later, their former congressman wasn’t ready to commit.  “Well, I didn’t annouce that.  We’re going to have to wait and see what the Fifth Circuit Court does with the appeal.”

The Democrat’s supporters want DeLay on the ballot, figuring Lampson can beat him.

But if DeLay signs on for another campaign and wins, he could clear the way for another Republican candidate.

“Should he refuse to take the oath of office on the 21^st of January when the rest of the House is sworn in, then the seat would be officially vacant and the governor would be required to fill it by holding a special election,” said 11 News Political Expert, Bob Stein.

Whatever happens, DeLay’s still glad-handing like an old congressional warhorse ready to jump back into the political waters.