New Texas Seats May Determine House's Balance Of Power

HOUSTON (AllPolitics, Oct. 23) -- It's almost time to pick the winners. Or is it? Ask the candidates in Texas' 25th congressional district, and you could wind up awfully confused.

Says John Devine, "Second is first place, I think." John Sanchez concurs. "Second place would be OK," he said. Brent Perry says, "My goal is to finish second behind Ken Bentsen."

Some Texas House races have been confusing ever since a federal court ruled that three districts had been drawn solely on racial lines, and fixed it by redrawing 13 of the state's 30 congressional districts.

In the Houston area's 25th district -- a top target of both parties -- it means more Republicans in what used to be a largely Democratic district.

How about the incumbent, Democratic Rep. Bentsen. Is second okay? "Well, no," he says. "What I would like to do is get over 50 percent on November 5th."

New York Rep. Bill Paxon, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, says, "We've always felt we'd pick up three to five seats, but now with this new redistricting, we think five is the minimum number we'll gain in Texas this year."

Democrats disagree. Texas Rep. Martin Frost, who heads up the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, says, "I'm not ready to concede we'll lose anything that we currently hold."

The court also threw out all primary results and threw open the Nov. 5th ballot to all comers, a window of opportunity for Republicans.

As a result of the court ruling, 11 candidates are campaigning now as though they were in a primary, jockeying to get into position for a Dec. 10 runoff.

Republican primary winner Perry, a lawyer, has plenty of company. Among others in the race: Devine, who is a judge; Sanchez, a doctor; and a businesswoman, Dolly Madison McKenna.

In the 13 Texas districts, there could be three or four runoffs. And if the majority in the House is undecided, says former Rep. Bill Frenzel, now with the Brookings Institution, "You will see so much activity in those runoffs, as people from all over the rest of the country -- Republicans and Democrats -- go down and try to influence those races... and it will sort of mess up what should be nice local elections."

CNN's Charles Bierbauer contributed to this report.

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