From The Morning Grind

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), who is fighting money laundering charges in Texas, retired earlier this year to give his party better odds in November at winning his suburban Houston House seat. And while he no longer draws a paycheck from the House, an effort by the Texas Republican Party to replace him with another Republican candidate has failed. A federal appeals court upheld a lower court ruling Thursday to keep DeLay's name on the ballot.

Tina Bensiker, chairman of the Texas Republican Party, immediately said the party planned to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

DeLay's spokeswoman, Dani DeLay Ferro, the former congressman's daughter, said her father is "exploring his options and has not made any decisions."

"Today's decision is just another step in the process to allow the voters of the 22nd District a choice on the ballot in November," she said. "It's our understanding that the Texas Republican Party is looking at all of their available legal options, including appealing to the Supreme Court. Mr. DeLay continues to reside and work in the Washington, D.C., area."

DeLay announced his resignation from Congress shortly after winning the GOP nomination for a 12th term in March. And in an effort to try and keep his seat in Republican hands, DeLay announced that he was changing his legal residence to Virginia -- a move he said would disqualify him from November's race and allow the GOP to pick a new nominee.

Late last year, DeLay was forced to relinquish his leadership post in the House after a grand jury in Austin indicted him on the state money-laundering charges. Prosecutors accuse him of improperly steering corporate funds to state legislative candidates in 2002, when Republican wins made the mid-census redistricting possible.

DeLay has denied any wrongdoing, telling colleagues in his June farewell speech on the House floor that he served "at all times honorably and honestly."

In addition to the money-laundering charge, he suffered politically from his association with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who pleaded guilty to a variety of corruption charges and has been cooperating with investigators looking into allegations of corruption on Capitol Hill.

While DeLay has not been linked to wrongdoing in the Abramoff probe, two of his former staffers -- Tony Rudy and Michael Scanlon -- have pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from the investigation.

DeLay and Republican officials must now weigh the pros and cons of having him run for re-election. If DeLay decides to reverse course and seen election to his former seat, Democrats are sure to try and make this a national issue.

A spokesman for Nick Lampson, the Democratic nominee in the race, told CNN the former Texas House member is not focusing on the ruling and instead is looking forward to November.

"We think it is time to go ahead and move on with the election and put it to the voters," said Mike Malaise, Lampson's campaign manager. Malaise noted that Lampson was not involved in the lawsuit.