NARROWING THE FIELD: Though he has been actively running against the House Republicans' Svengali, Tom "terminal" DeLay, the bug-killer's last opponent won't face him again.

A Democratic challenger who won 41 percent of the vote against House Majority Leader Tom DeLay in 2004 said Monday he won't make a second attempt to unseat the incumbent. Richard Morrison cited family and financial obligations.

"Over the weekend, I had to put pen to paper on how to support my family during a campaign," Morrison said. "To have to begin campaigning now (for the March 2006 primary), I just don't have the money to put aside my law practice long enough to do this." ...

The night before, Morrison said he learned his mother had pancreatic cancer. Morrison and his wife are also expecting a fifth child in August.

But Bush's bad boy won't be safe next year.

Former U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson has announced that he'll run in the Democratic primary while Houston City Councilman Gordon Quan has said he is considering it.

Several of us from the Dallas area rode buses to southeast Texas to help campaign for Lampson in a winning campaign a few years back; there might be interest in doing that again.