Hurricane Ike brought destruction to parts of the Texas Gulf Coast, but it also brought out politicians from every corner.

Well, a lot of them anyway.

One of the  races this year has been between Republican Sen. John Cornyn and his Democratic opponent Rick Noriega. The two beefed up their sites with information for Ike victims. But in addition to that, they both decided to stop campaigning indefinitely.

While Cornyn and Noriega may have stopped campaigning, natural disasters are nonetheless a way for candidates to get publicity. Cornyn has done tours of disaster areas with President George Bush, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Texas Gov. Rick Perry. The senator may not be out spreading his reelection campaign message, but he is getting face time in the media and meeting those affected by the storm.

Noriega, who is at lieutenant colonel in the Texas National Army Guard, has received some media attention as well because he will likely be involved with post-Ike cleanup, but not near what Cornyn is getting.

The Houston Chronicle even went so far as to say Ike has wreaked havoc on Texas politics. The thing is, they may be right.

Noriega is from the Houston area, which he currently serves as Texas state representative. Many from that area are now displaced and living in shelters, hotels or with family in other parts of the state. When they will be able to return is unknown. Nov. 4 isn’t too far away. Finding residents of disaster areas to ensure they register to vote and show up to the polls on Election Day would be a massive undertaking, particularly when most are more concerned with cleanup or deciding if they should return to the coast.

In some ways, Ike may have handed incumbent Republicans, who are in hot contests around that area, their reelection.