Efforts by some Internet activists -- including I Can Has Cheezeburger? CEO Ben Huh -- to unseat the author of the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act have fizzled. Austin Congressman Lamar Smith has trounced his two primary challengers, all but locking in the Republican nomination.
With results still trickling in, Smith had secured 79 percent of the vote. Tea party activist Richard Mack had 13 percent and software engineer Richard Morgan had 8 percent. The Associated Press has declared Smith the winner.
Test PAC, a political action committee fueled by users of the social news site Reddit, spent about $14,000 in an effort to unseat Smith. Another group called Fight for the Future bought a billboard near Smith’s district office that said, “Don’t Mess with the Internet.”
“I certainly want to protect the Internet and don’t worry about billboards like that,” Smith told a San Antonio radio station, according to the National Journal.
Smith is a 14 year incumbent who raised $1.3 million for his reelection bid. Mack raised $50,000 and Morgan gathered $9,000.
