National politics in East Texas district

[Judi Lynn]

Oct. 17, 2004, 12:43AM

National politics in East Texas district
Remap leaves Democrat with re-election fight
By KRISTEN MACK
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

LONGVIEW - Max Sandlin seems relaxed and familiar among his constituents in East Texas' 1st Congressional District.

"He's us," said Tom Hayes, former mayor of Longview. "And there's nothing phony about it. He stands up for what he believes in, and he believes in East Texas. You can take political parties and throw them in the trash."

Maybe so, but Sandlin, a Democrat, has a fight on his hands in next month's election, and it has a lot to do with party politics.

Republican Louie Gohmert, a former state district and appeals court judge in Tyler, hopes to oust Sandlin in a redrawn district that is far more Republican than the one Sandlin won four times before.

Sandlin, of Marshall, is one of the Democratic U.S. House members targeted last year by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, and other Republican leaders who pushed for redistricting to increase the number of Republicans in the state's congressional delegation.
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http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/politics/2850322
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