You lost. Get over it.

How many times have I heard that since November? Well, apparently that advice isn’t being heeded by the other guys. There are currently three races being contested in Texas by Republican incumbents who were unseated by Democratic challengers. Apparently it isn’t enough that the Republicans have the majority, they want a shutout. It seems to be inconceivable to them that their party swept to victory across the state, and yet some were left behind.

One of these incumbents, Talmadge Heflin, an eleven term State Representative and Chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee, lost his election to Hubert Vo, a Democratic newcomer, by 33 votes out of more than 40,000 cast. The state House has subpoenaed scores of Houston-area voters who cast contested ballots in the November election.

Oddly enough, many of these voters questioned claimed to have voted a straight Republican ticket – which alone should tell the Election Contest Committee that they didn’t give the election much thought, and that’s probably why they screwed up on the ballot.

I’ll be interested in seeing how this works out. Will the Republican-dominated House back their boy in the post election glow of victory (as they did with Tom DeLay and those pesky ethics allegations), or will they concede that just maybe some voters don’t want to be represented by them?

If Bush can claim a “mandate” with a 1% margin of victory, then Hubert Vo deserves to be seated in the House of Representatives with a 33 vote margin.

Talmadge Heflin, they’ve already given your old office away. You lost. Get over it.