redistricting drama: is it over?

Texas courts have decided to be good to Texas Democrats... twice in a row! The blogosphere has been abuzz discussing the decision that determined that Tom DeLay must either stay on the November ballot or not be replaced with another Republican.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has declined to allow the Republican Party of Texas to replace former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on the November Ballot.

The Court upheld a ruling by U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks, who said in July that DeLay’s name had to stay on the ballot even though he resigned and claimed to have moved to Virginia.

Today, the buzz has grown even louder as the courts have released a map the redrawn districts. Vince from Capitol Annex, who has been following the redistricting drama closely, discusses the freshly-drawn districts and offers this interesting speculation about John Courage and other candidates:

The biggest question that remains unanswered is what Congressional Candidate John Courage will do. Courage is one of the Democratic party’s stars among Texas congressional—on a national and local level—gaining recognition from groups like Democracy for America and Governor Mark Warner’s political action committee. Courage, who is running against Rep. Lamar Smith (R-San Antonio) in the old 21, saw key Travis County territory—Democratic precincts—slip away in the court’s new remap. It seems most likely, however, that if Courage continues his race (when remedy maps first started being examined, he indicated he would) it would be in CD 21.

The other affected districts, CD 15 and CD 25, will likely not change hands from their current Congressmen: Lloyd Doggett (D-Austin) for CD 25 and Ruben Hinojosa (D-Mercedes) for CD 15.

KT from BOR has more analysis of the new maps (and what they mean for Texas Democrats) over at DailyKos.