Rumor Mill in TX-22. Has a Candidate Deal Been Cut?

I heard a rumor today that rings true. Goes something like this. A deal has been reached between three of the four counties involved in selecting Tom DeLay's replacement on the ballot in Congressional District 22 - Harris, Brazoria and Galveston. Who does that leave out? Fort Bend County. Does this explain Gary Gillen's (Fort Bend Republican Party Chair) decision to cancel the scheduled June 8th candidate forum? So who does the rumor mill say is Nick Lampson's opponent:

Robert Talton

Texas state representative, district 144, Pasadena. Gay-obsessed. Ultra-conservative. "My yes is a yes and my no is a no (see my post on last Thursday's candidate forum.)

I won't say a whole lot more on Talton right now since we are at the level of rumor, but I will say that some of my friends have been saying for awhile, "Please let it be Talton! Please let it be Talton!" If that tells you anything.

Also, just to let you know one reason why this rings true to me. The Republicans out here have been gnashing their teeth for days guessing that David Wallace seems to have been cut out of the game for some reason (lameness?) And, they have been lamenting the lameness in general of their candidates.

DeLay supposedly has a Virginia driver's license, so has he established out of state residency already?

I've been assured that this is not at the level of rumor: As soon as a name is submitted by the Republican party in TX-22 to replace DeLay on the ballot for November, someone will file a lawsuit against DeLay for illegally getting out of his congressional race. And that person will not be Nick Lampson.

Oh, and something else interesting from Monday's Memorial Day Celebration in Sugar Land. When I was hanging out with Nick Lampson, Bob Smithers, the Libertarian candidate on the ballot, actually apologized to Nick for running against him. No kidding.
Update: Bob Smithers contacted me and said he definitely did not say this. But, my source is good. I'm not saying either one of them is not telling the truth. Perhaps something was said that was misunderstood. I am reluctant to take this off the blog because I trust my source, but I want all of my readers to know that Mr. Smithers denies the remark.