I've been trying to figure this out for a while. Sandlin was, I think, the most tragic casualty of the DeLaymander. Sure, the additions of Longview and Tyler made him the underdog; still, both those cities had been sending Ralph Hall (as a Democrat) to Congress for years. I know Gohmert is based in Tyler though, and he got almost 70% in Smith county.
Also, most of the counties along the Louisiana border had that had easily supported Sandlin in past cycles flipped to Gohmert.
What happened? I thought Sandlin sounded much better
in the debate. Were Bush's coattails just too strong?
