Shelley Sekula-Gibbs

Shelley Sekula-Gibbs was a Republican candidate in the 2008 congressional elections for the 22nd Congressional District (map) of Texas. She was seeking the Republican nomination to challenge incumbent Rep. Nick Lampson (D-Texas), but fell to primary opponent Pete Olson.

In 2006, she was elected to fill the seat vacated by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. On that same day, November 7, Gibbs ran as a write-in candidate for the 110th Congress, but was defeated by Rep. Nick Lampson.

2006 elections
On November 7, 2006, Sekula-Gibbs lost the general election for the seat to Democrat Nick Lampson, but won the special election to fulfill the remainder of former Rep. Tom DeLay's term in the final session of the 109th Congress. Lampson defeated Sekula-Gibbs 52%-42% to win the seat.

Special election
Sekula-Gibbs won the special election to fill out the remainder of the Tom DeLay's term in Congress on November 7, 2006. Texas Governor Rick Perry announced on August 29, 2006, that a special election would take place for the unexpired term of Tom DeLay, coinciding with the general election on November 7, 2006. This meant that voters chose twice for the same race, but with a different set of candidates (only Libertarian Bob Smither was on both ballots). It set up a scenario in which the constituents of District 22 sent one person to Washington for the last two months of the 109th Congress and a different person to Congress for the two years following. It also meant that Sekula-Gibbs was on the ballot for the special election, but not the general election, in which she remained a write-in. Sekula-Gibbs filed for the special election and appeared on the ballot, as did Bob Smither; however, Lampson, even though he previously pledged to file for the special election, at the last minute chose not to.

Sekula-Gibbs was asked if the special election would confuse voters. She replied, "People already know it’s an unusual race." She also stated that having her name on one ballot would serve as "a memory jog."

2008 elections
The primary took place on March 4, 2008. Sekula-Gibbs received 29.72%, qualifying for a runoff election in April 2008. She faced Pete Olson. Olson won the runoff election, with early results showing him with more than 60 percent of the vote.

Committees
Sekula-Gibbs will be assigned committees again if and when she is elected to Congress.

Committees in the 109th Congress

 * House Committee on Education and the Workforce
 * House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

Related SourceWatch articles

 * 2008 U.S. congressional elections
 * 2008 U.S. congressional election dates
 * Portal:Texas and the U.S. Congress

External resources

 * Sekula-Gibbs' FEC filings
 * 2008 Race Tracker page on Texas' 22nd Congressional District
 * Official Shelley Sekula-Gibbs for Congress website
 * Official House site