With Friends Like These...

Once again, Chris Elam has some great scoop on the CD-22 race from Harris County via Kathy Haigler: CD-22 Update - Harris.

Here's Ms. Haigler's list of "PROBABLY IN":

PROBABLY IN (not all have formally announced):
Tom Campbell
Charlie Howard*
Mike Jackson*
Andy Meyers*
Shelley Sekula-Gibbs*
Robert Talton*
Tim Turner*
David Wallace
Brad Wright*

*BOLD = scheduled for a May 6th interview at the Forum.

Oddly enough, you might note that TWO candidates who have been on the
“probably in” list all along are not participating in the Harris County
forum.

(Hmm... those "TWO" candidates need to step up, methinks, if they want to be seriously considered!)

When reviewing that list, I had a few thoughts run through my head. But one kind of nagged at me when I read "Shelley Sekula-Gibbs".

I thought, "Is she really running? Does anybody really take her seriously?"

Maybe it's just me, but ever since she got elected on the coattails of her late husband, respected Houston reporter/anchorman Sylvan Rodriguez, with little else to justify her victory, I have always regarded her with a bit of casual disdain (however undeserved it might be).

Apparently, others are taking her potential run for Congress quite seriously so I figued I should check her out.

Now, you can usually evaluate someone by the type and quality of their friends. So, when perusing her website, whom did she list as her supporters/friends?

Organizations like: AFL-CIO, Greater Houston Area Tejano Democrats, Houston Black American Democrats, among other local unions and PACs.

I have nothing against those organizations, per se -- although I don't support their ideology or political positions, there's nothing "bad" about them -- I don't exactly think that the type of person that gets support from those types of groups will perform particularly well in a conservative GOP district.

To meet the "givens" one would expect from a Republican from CD-22, Sekula-Gibbs would have to be pro-life, pro-death penalty, pro-"right-to-work", anti-quotas, etc. -- not exactly the policy agenda that the "supporters" listed above would endorse.

So, it's nice for Ms. Sekula-Gibbs to suit up for the game, but The Umpire has called this one: She's out!

CAVEAT: She is the only woman in the "PROBABLY IN" category, though, so she just might squeak through for two reasons: 1. She's a woman, and 2. She has union support which could be vital to this race. But I still predict she will NOT be the GOP nominee in November for the new 2-year term.