Tight race to succeed Ron Paul growing heated

Rep. Randy Weber, District 29, is photographed at his campaign headquarters on Thursday, March 15, 2012, in League City. Rep. Randy Weber is a candidate in the 2012 Congressional Elections. ( Mayra Beltran / Houston Chronicle ) less Rep. Randy Weber, District 29, is photographed at his campaign headquarters on Thursday, March 15, 2012, in League City. Rep. Randy Weber is a candidate in the 2012 Congressional Elections. ( Mayra Beltran / ... more Photo: Mayra Beltran Photo: Mayra Beltran Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Tight race to succeed Ron Paul growing heated 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

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. 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.

"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."

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."

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.

"He said he wasn't knocking on doors in moderate households because they were not receptive to his message," Clinton told the crowd.

Donations in dispute

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.

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.

"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.

The Weber campaign is in full compliance with FEC rules, spokesperson Courtney Weaver said in an email.

"As we've stated from the start, the contributions are not over the limit, because they will be reattributed to donor's spouses," she wrote. "A married couple can donate $5,000 representing two separate $2,500 contributions by writing one single $5,000 check. When this occurs, the campaign sends out re­attribution letters, so that it is clearly documented that the contribution was intended to be $2,500 from one spouse and $2,500 from the other."

Weaver said the campaign will file an amended report before the election.

Campaigns make mistakes with donations all the time, Lampson said last week, but they are easy to rectify: "All you have to do is give it back."

Lampson, 67, a Jefferson County tax assessor-collector for 20 years before being elected to Congress in 1996, is counting on a strong turnout by his Beaumont-area base to counter Weber's GOP support in Brazoria County.

"Over here, Lampson is like a staple, like that can of green beans in the cabinet. You open the door, and you know he's going to be there," said Abria Fowler, a Beaumont middle-school teacher at the Clinton rally.

Despite the increasingly angry tone of the race, Lampson says he is running to restore civility to government. He notes that during his 10 years in Congress he founded the bipartisan Congressional Caucus on Missing, Exploited, and Runaway Children and the Congressional Center-Aisle Congress, dedicated to civility across party lines. The latter no longer exists.

Call to work together

"I am angry and disappointed at what I see happening with our government, with our country and our Congress today," said Lampson, who served in Congress twice for a total of 10 years. "It is dysfunctional. We have lost the ability to work together."

Lampson, who owned a home health care company before being elected to Congress and who supports the Affordable Care Act, said he hoped to find cost-savings and efficiencies in health care if he goes back to Washington. Technology is key, he said.

Weber, 58, who insists that he has no problem working with members of the other party, frequently mentions his opponent in the same breath with national Democrats.

"Nick Lampson can't hide from his record of supporting higher taxes, more spending and voting with Nancy Pelosi's liberal agenda," he said in a statement released last week in response to the donor dispute. "He can't run away from his endorsement of Obama. He won't return the $50,000 in campaign contributions from Nancy Pelosi."

Focus on spending

Weber, voted the most conservative member of the Texas House, said he hopes to help repeal Obamacare, stop deficit spending and deal with illegal immigration.

"The main thing we've got to do is get our spending under control before we lose our country," he said last week. "We've got to be willing to make those hard choices."

Despite his pledge to slash spending, Weber says he intends to look after the 14th District, which includes five ports, the nation's largest petro­chemical complex and exposure to storms and hurricanes.

"Texans pay a lot of tax dollars to Washington, D.C., and we should be getting some of that back," he said. "One example would be the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund."

Lampson agrees.

"A member of Congress from here has to go to bat for our district," he said. "And they can't do it by being centric to one party."

joe.holley@chron.com