House Win Adds Insult to Injury for DeLay By Sylvia Moreno and Chris Cillizza, Washington Post Staff Writers

Former congressman Ciro Rodriguez’s victory in a House runoff election Tuesday in Texas not only allowed Democrats to pick up their 30th seat of the 2006 elections but served as a final rebuke to one of the architects of the Republican House majority: Tom DeLay.

The former congressman from Texas was the mastermind of a 2003 redrawing of congressional lines in the state that led to the removal of six House Democrats in the 2004 elections.

Two years later, DeLay’s fortunes have suffered a near-total reversal, as the redistricting map that once seemed certain to cement his legacy and GOP majorities for years has instead led to the end of that career and may well be a building block for a reenergized Democratic Party in the state. …

“The genius of Tom DeLay is now seriously in question,” said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University. …

If DeLay decimated Democrats in 2004, he also seems responsible for their revival. …

“Before this election, DeLay was in the grave with dirt on top of him,” [Matt Angle, a Democratic strategist,] said. “This is a final repudiation of DeLay’s arrogance and bullying ways.”