Morrison will not challenge DeLay

Texas lawyer Richard Morrison has decided not to mount another challenge to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), citing financial concerns and an unwillingness to spar in a crowded primary.

“With the prospects of having to spend another 2 years winning a primary and then challenging DeLay, my family’s financial situation is not the rosiest,” Morrison emailed his supporters yesterday.

“If I can be so bold, I demand that each one of you will commit to work as hard for [former] Congressman Lampson or [Houston City] Councilman Gordon Quan as you did for me,” he wrote.

Republicans remained confident that the DeLay seat is safe, speculating that Democrats were trying to clear the field for former Rep. Nick Lampson (D-Texas) who was a victim of DeLay’s mid-cycle redistricting.

“Nick Lampson couldn’t win his own district against a challenger, and he is surely not going to beat Tom DeLay,” said Carl Forti, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Campaign.

“It appears to us that Tom DeLay is in huge trouble in his own district and we’re confident that at the end of the day there’s going to be a Democrat representing Texas 22nd district,” said Bill Burton, spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Hans Nichols