I think you missed an option for the Republican Party of Texas. What would stop them from gathering evidence that Tom DeLay will not be a inhabitant of Texas on election day, or that DeLay is otherwise ineligible, and then filing a motion in the District Court to modify the injunction? The Fifth Circuit reject RPT’s argument that the determination of DeLay’s ineligibility was merely procedural and predictive on the grounds that Benkiser’s declaration was based on DeLay’s current residence and not on DeLay’s inhabitancy on election day. I see no reason why the RPT couldn’t produce evidence predictive of DeLay’s inhabitance on election day and then move for a modification. Granted, this won’t be easy to prove; the Fifth Circuit characterizes it as an “extraordinary burden.” A candidate choosing to assist in having himself disqualified strikes me as a rather extraordinary situation though, so perhaps it can be done.

I don’t know whether this option would succeed. Even apart from the extraordinary burden, I think the RPT might still have a problem under state law. It seems to me that a candidate who moves out of state to render himself disqualified should be treated as having withdrawn from the election. Nevertheless, I think this is an option they could consider.