Bill Clinton, the Democratic Party's ablest advocate these days, touched down in Beaumont last week to lend his star power to that rare political phenomenon in the Lone Star State, a Democrat running for an open seat in Congress who actually has a chance of winning. <\/p>\n
Although the Republican candidate, state Rep. Randy Weber of Alvin, remains a slight favorite to take the GOP-leaning District 14 seat held for years by Ron Paul, Democrat Nick Lampson is competitive. The former congressman from Beaumont out-raised his opponent by about $50,000 in the third quarter and had about $422,000 in cash on hand, while Weber had $55,000. <\/p>\n
\"I think it'll be very close,\" said University of Houston political scientist Richard Murray. \"Lampson's not your average Democrat. He's an experienced and well-funded candidate, but he's got to get a lot of Romney crossover voters to pull it off.\" <\/p>\n
In a Beaumont rally the other night, Clinton described Lampson as someone who will \"work with anybody that's got an idea worth listening to.\" <\/p>\n
Lampson's opponent, Clinton said, without mentioning Weber by name, is an ideologue more interested in adhering to tea party orthodoxy than in serving the needs of the district. <\/p>\n
\"He said he wasn't knocking on doors in moderate households because they were not receptive to his message,\" Clinton told the crowd. <\/p>\n
Donations in dispute <\/p>\n
In a tight race that grows more heated by the day, Lampson has questioned Weber's character and judgment for raising and keeping $22,500 in illegal campaign donations. A resident of Jefferson County who supports Lampson filed a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission last week. <\/p>\n
Weber, who touts the endorsements of Paul, Gov. Rick Perry, GOP Senate nominee Ted Cruz, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio and several area congressmen, acknowledges that seven individual contributors exceeded the individual-donor limit of $2,500, with four of them writing checks for $5,000 apiece and three others writing multiple checks for $2,500. <\/p>\n
\"If he can't be trusted to manage his own money, how can he be trusted with the public's money?\" said Lampson campaign spokesman Daniel Van Hoogstraten. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
View post: Bill Clinton, the Democratic Party's ablest advocate these days, touched down in Beaumont last week to lend his star power to that rare political phenomenon in the Lone Star State, a Democrat running for an open seat in Congress who actually has a chance of winning. Although the Republican candidate, state Rep. Randy Weber of Alvin, remains a slight favorite to take the GOP-leaning District 14 seat held for years by Ron Paul, Democrat Nick Lampson is competitive Continue reading
\nTight race to succeed Ron Paul growing heated<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"