The presidential primary in Texas, where a bitter battle over redistricting maps has thrown a wrench in plans for an April 3 primary, now looks like it will settle in late May, according to a federal judge.

My colleague Dave Catanese takes a look at how the uncertainty over the primary date is affecting campaigning (or lack thereof) in the state:

Newt Gingrich frequently cites Texas as a state crucial to his viability, because of the whopping 155 delegates up for grabs.

But the former speaker — like every other candidate on the ballot — is at the mercy of a federal court, which is trying to cobble together a resolution between the state and a phalanx of minority groups this week.

“Texas ought to do what they have to do and we’ll organize the campaign with Gov. Perry accordingly,” Gingrich said at press conference in South El Monte, Calif. Monday. “We’ll get to Texas when we can.”

Last week while campaigning in Allen, Texas, Rick Santorum expressed a desire for the matter to be decided quickly. “The sooner Texas is, the better it is for us,” he said.

Eric Fehrnstrom, a senior aide to Mitt Romney, told POLITICO their campaign has “no preference on when they hold it.”

Nonetheless, the absence of a specific date has paralyzed campaigns across the board.

“They’re kind of frustrated with the delay,” said Texas Sen. John Cornyn. “It’s just sort of a general concern.”

It's also worth noting that a late May Texas primary puts the two most delegate-rich states on the map -- Texas, with 155 delegates, and California, with 172, on June 6 -- at the tail end of the primary calendar, making it that much more plausible that there still won't be a GOP winner delegate-wise until May or later.

This is too bad because Santorum is CRUSHING everyone else.

http://hotair.com/archives/2012/02/20/santorum-crushing-the-field-in-texas/

Why can't stuff like this happen to a Romney state?