1.   He said the party is still trying to get enough valid signatures to win ballot access in Texas.

2.   The ease and speed with which the required number of valid signatures were obtained was impressive.

3.   But a state Supreme Court judge threw Espada off the ballot last month, saying that he failed to produce enough valid signatures on his petition documents.

4.   That is not such a daunting requirement for the candidate backed by the state organization, which has hundreds of experienced foot soldiers to collect valid signatures.

5.   Then a special election would be held for McCain and any other candidate who can collect the same required number of valid signatures.

6.   Two other initiative petitions, which dealt with term limits for federal officeholders, did not contain enough valid signatures, Cook said.

7.   Only the valid signatures of registered Republicans count.