By Jessica Benton Cooney and Greg Giroux, CQ Staff

There’s a good reason why 10 Republican candidates have packed the field for Tuesday’s primary election in Texas’ 22nd Congressional District, a Houston-area constituency where Democratic Rep. Nick Lampson is seeking re-election.

Lampson got his opportunity to land the seat in this traditionally Republican district when Republican Tom DeLay, who rose to the powerful position of House Majority Leader, relinquished that post after a series of ethics controversies and subsequently resigned from the House in June, 2006.

But because of Republican strength here, Lampson finds himself on shakier turf than he was in the more blue-collar region he represented from 1997 to 2005 (before a DeLay-orchestrated mid-decade redistricting shifted him into a less-friendly district where he lost to Republican Ted Poe ). In fact, of the 30 U.S. House districts taken over by Democrats in the 2006 election that boosted them into their current majority, Texas’ 22nd voted the most strongly for President Bush, who took 64 percent of the district’s vote.

So Republican officials sense the opportunity to reclaim Texas 22. Some of the 10 Republicans seeking to challenge Lampson are more viable than others, but the sheer size of the field practically guarantees that no candidate will amass the majority of votes needed to win outright in the primary and avoid a runoff which, if necessary, would be held April 8.

Shelley Sekula Gibbs, one of the Republican candidates, is technically seeking to reclaim the 22nd District seat that she held briefly following DeLay’s downfall. Sekula Gibbs, a former city councilwoman in Houston, won a special election, which coincided with the November 2006 general election, to fill the remaining two months of DeLay’s unexpired term. But she immediately became a lame duck, because she lost to Lampson in a separate election for a full two-year term that was held the same day.

In fact, the special election was hastily scheduled by Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry in hopes of giving Sekula Gibbs a publicity boost. A judge had ruled that DeLay’s ill-timed resignation precluded Republicans from filling the vacant GOP ballot slot for the 22nd District race on the November ballot. Lampson refused to take the bait and sat out the special election, forcing the Republican nominee to run a virtually impossible write-in campaign for the regularly scheduled general election.

Sekula Gibbs told CQ Politics in a recent interview that Lampson’s 2006 win was a “fluke” and that “voters feel the seat was stolen from under us.” She said that nine of the 10 Republican candidates have the deep roots in the district that voters want.

It is no coincidence that the one candidate whom she singled out as not fitting this mold also happens to be one of her top opponents for one of the two slots in the April 8 runoff: Pete Olson, a former chief of staff to Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn and also a Navy veteran.

Sekula Gibbs is trying to brand Olson as the favorite candidate of Washington political insiders. “It’s arrogant of the K Street lobbyists to support a candidate who hasn’t lived here in 20 years,” she said.

Olson countered that Sekula Gibbs’ attacks on him are a clear indication that she sees him as a threat and that “we are doing something right.” He also described the attacks as false, pointing out that most of his money is coming from Texas donors. He said his campaign has “a lot of momentum” and that he’s “the guy who can beat Lampson.”

Sekula Gibbs actually is the best-funded Republican candidate. She reported total receipts of about $1.1 million through Feb. 13 — including $240,000 in loans that she personally made to her own campaign — and had $206,000 left to spend. Olson was second among Republican candidates in fundraising, with $535,000 in receipts and $90,000 cash on hand as of Feb. 13.

Olson has promoted his military service — his campaign Web site includes a photo of him in a Navy uniform — and emphasizes his support for securing the nation’s borders against illegal immigration and supporting the U.S. troop surge in Iraq. The other major Republican candidates also denounce illegal immigration and oppose timelines to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq.

Other Republican candidates who have shown at least modest fundraising success include John Manlove, a former mayor of suburban Pasadena ($283,000 in receipts); Dean Hrbacek, a former mayor of suburban Sugar Land ($266,000); Robert Talton, a state representative ($225,000); and Jim Squier, a former judge in Harris County, which encompasses Houston and most of its metropolitan area ($177,000).

Manlove has touted the support of some other local mayors. He’s also promoted his business background as the chief executive officer of a marketing and communications firm that bears his name.

Hrbacek was endorsed in the Republican primary by the editorial page of the Houston Chronicle, which said Hrbacek “is respected for his economic development policies, tax cuts and reduction of waste in municipal government.”

Talton calls himself a “grass-roots candidate” who people can trust. He’s emphasized his social-issue conservatism, including opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage and support for gun owners’ rights. He’s faulted both Democratic-run and Republican-run Congresses for failing to curb federal spending.

None of the other four candidates in the race exceeded $40,000 in receipts. They are Kevyn Bazzy, an intelligence officer in the U.S. Army Reserves; Cynthia Dunbar, a lawyer who is a member of the Texas Board of Education; Brian Klock, a financial adviser; and Ryan Rowley, an information technology professional and military veteran.

Lampson, meanwhile, is unopposed in the Democratic primary. He has been steadily building up his campaign treasury to prepare for an expensive general election campaign. As of Feb. 13, he raised $1.05 million and had $739,000 left to spend.

Mike Malaise, a consultant for Lampson’s campaign, said that the congressman “has a great chance” to win re-election, especially since “no Republican candidate has distinguished themselves from the pack.” Malaise described Lampson as an “independent voice for Texas” who is concentrating on protecting the border and the Port of Houston.

The 22nd District race constitutes one of two bids by Texas Republicans to reclaim House seats captured by the Democrats in 2006. The other is the 23rd District, where two Republicans are vying in Tuesday’s primary for the nomination to take on Democratic Rep. Ciro D. Rodriguez , who unseated Republican incumbent Henry Bonilla in 2006.