After Republicans in a suburban Chicago district chose what some national GOP strategists thought was a fatally flawed nominee in the race to replace ex-House Speaker Denny Hastert, the national party is quietly getting involved in at least one primary to prevent the same thing from happening. House Minority Leader John Boehner has donated $10,000 from his PAC to Pete Olson, a former chief of staff to Senator John Cornyn, in Olson's bid to unseat Democratic Rep. Nick Lampson, The Hill's Aaron Blake reports.
The move is not unusual on its face: By the time this election is through, Boehner will have donated similar amounts to dozens of Republican candidates. What makes his backing of Olson remarkable is that it comes even as another Republican, former Houston City Councilwoman Shelly Sekula Gibbs, remains in the race, headed for an April 8 runoff with Olson.
Sekula Gibbs, who was elected to replace resigned House Majority Leader Tom DeLay for the remaining two months of the 109th Congress on the same day Lampson won the seat for the 110th, spent her brief tenure as a member of Congress royally irritating people. Her arrival in Congress was marred when DeLay's remaining personal staff walked out, and many Republicans think she would begin as an underdog heading into November. Her bid this year has also been marked by some staff dissension: Former Sekula Gibbs deputy campaign manager Matt Dabrowski, a Connecticut-based consultant, gave $250 to Olson, the Houston Chronicle reported last week.
Olson, should he survive the runoff, could give Lampson a run for his money in what is ordinarily a Republican seat. The 22nd District, based in the southern exurbs of Houston and parts of Harris County, voted heavily for President Bush twice -- by 34 points before the DeLay-inspired mid-decade redistricting and 28 points afterward -- and Lampson himself only beat Sekula Gibbs, running as a write-in candidate, by ten points after outspending her three and a half to one.
Perhaps more importantly, Republicans at the national level are actually getting involved in primaries to ensure that they have the best candidates running in November. While the National Republican Congressional Committee does not formally get involved in competitive primaries, they do everything but and encouraging certain candidates to get in or stay out, as does the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Boehner isn't the only House Republican leader to lend a hand to Olson's campaign. Chief Deputy Whip Eric Cantor and Texas Rep. Pete Sessions, who may harbor hopes of running for NRCC chair next cycle, each handed over $10,000 from their PACs, and money came in from campaign committees representing Texas Reps. Jeb Hensarling and Kenny Marchant. Several top aides to other members of the Texas delegation pitched in as well.
Should Olson win the runoff -- he received 24% in the March 4 primary, to Sekula Gibbs' 28% -- he will likely be in better position to take on Lampson in November than Sekula Gibbs would be. But neither Republican will face an easy path: Pre-primary filing on February 13 showed Lampson had raised over $1 million so far this year, with $739,000 in the bank. Sekula Gibbs and Olson, in pre-runoff filings on March 19, reported just $85,000 and $114,000 on hand respectively.
