LEAGUE CITY — Ron Paul is a tough act to follow, and the major Republican candidates running to replace him in Congress are not even trying.

It is hard enough to get voters to remember their names — there are nine Republicans running — in an election that is rife with confusion because of a delayed primary date and redrawn boundaries. And for all the hero worship Mr. Paul has cultivated among a small but vocal subset of the electorate, nobody is rushing to imitate “Dr. No.”

“I don’t get a sense that people are looking for the next Ron Paul,” said Jay Old, a Beaumont lawyer and the top fund-raiser in the crowded field. “I think they are looking for people who want the very best for the district.”

Partisan gerrymandering often turns political jurisdictions into zigzagging monstrosities, but the redrawn Congressional District 14 is straightforward and compact. It starts at the southeast corner of Texas, along the Louisiana border, and going west picks up two whole coastal counties, Jefferson and Galveston, and about half of another, Brazoria.