In the past both parties have had mixed success in their efforts to covertly or not so covertly clear crowded primaries for their best prospects in some of the most competitive House races.
But with the anti-establishment sentiment among voters inflamed this cycle both local and national GOP leaders are being forced to tiptoe if at all to show some candidates the exit for fear of triggering a backlash from local activists.
About six weeks ago Missouri state GOP officials attempted to organize a meeting with state Sen. Bill Stouffer and former state Rep. Vicky Hartzler the leading GOP candidates in the Aug. 3 primary to take on longtime Democratic Rep. Ike Skelton .
According to two sources familiar with the meeting it was arranged in an effort to talk Hartzler out of running in order to clear the field for Stouffer. But Hartzler discovered the purpose of the meeting and canceled her attendance.
Vicki Hartzler canceled the meeting period" Stouffer campaign spokesman Christian Morgan said. She was going to be asked to step aside in the campaign because her support just isnt there in the district. This isnt theory. It is fact. Her revisionist history and behavior of toying with the facts is just another reason why she cannot be trusted to represent the people of rural Missouri in the U.S. Congress."
But according to Hartzler political director Samantha Hill the story is actually the other way around party officials attempted to bring the two candidates to ask Stouffer to step aside in the race. Hill said that when party leaders backed away from their promise to ask Stouffer to step aside just days before the meeting Hartzler canceled.
We kind of deliberated and said it wasnt worth our time it wasnt worth the partys time and it wasnt worth Stouffers time" Hill said.
With several notable exceptions the National Republican Congressional Committee is staying out of the primary game completely. Officially the committee says it has no policy on primaries which technically means they reserve the right to take sides even if they are unlikely to do so.
But if the field can be cleared for the right candidate it will pay off for the national party in November. Given that the NRCC is strapped for cash this cycle it will have to choose carefully which races it can afford to play in. If many of the candidates emerge from their primaries essentially broke House Republicans will have major funding problems in some of their most competitive races.
The filing deadline has not passed in several states with late primaries and contested GOP races and candidates can still remove their names from the ballot in places such as Arizona Colorado Connecticut Kansas Michigan New Hampshire New York and Wisconsin.
Just last week former Kansas state Sen. Nick Jordan (R) announced that he was dropping out of the primary in the competitive 3rd district open-seat race. Several sources said the 2008 GOP nominee stepped aside on his own volition but theres no doubt that if Jordan stayed in the race a competitive primary against well-funded state Rep. Kevin Yoder would have endangered the GOPs chances of winning the seat.
Jordan also participated in a Nov. 23 meeting in which top 3rd district GOP candidates tentatively agreed to step aside for the candidate with the best fundraising after the first quarter of 2010.
Jordan who did not return a request for an interview raised a paltry $90000 in the period while Yoder brought in $277000.
The November meeting was held in part because GOP primaries have plagued the partys chances in this competitive district for several cycles. Two candidates often a more moderate vs. a conservative Republican would run negative races against each other until the August primary allowing Democratic Rep. Dennis Moore to continue winning re-election.
Your Republican nominee would show up the day after the primary 90 days before the general election bloody and broke" said Kansas GOP consultant David Kensinger.
A spokesman for national Republicans argued that primaries will make their candidates stronger in the general election and that they will have a relationship with every winning primary campaign as a result of their implied neutrality. For example both Republican candidates in the Missouri race are in the NRCCs Young Guns" program although Stouffer ranks in the second tier while Hartzler is in the third tier.
We are not afraid to acknowledge the success of multiple candidates even if they are running in the same district" NRCC spokesman Ken Spain said. Our goal is to make every campaign better."
Nonetheless there are less-than-subtle hints about who the national GOP supports in many of these multicandidate primaries. House Minority Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia for example has endorsed car dealer Scott Rigell the leading contender in the crowded Republican primary to decide who will face Democratic Rep. Glenn Nye .
In Tennessees 8th district race for John Tanner s seat NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions (Texas) and other GOP leaders have held fundraisers for farmer Stephen Fincher. Even though Fincher is not the only competitive candidate in the race GOP leaders have continued to help Fincher because he entered the race and put together a strong campaign before the 11-term Democrat announced his retirement.
But by overtly backing a candidate in a contested primary national and local parties can put themselves in a difficult position if their preferred nominee does not win. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee fell into that trap in the 2006 cycle when their preferred candidate state Rep. Jim Craig lost the primary in New Hampshires 1st district to Carol Shea-Porter .
After Craigs loss the DCCC did not target the race and much to the surprise of Democrats watched Shea-Porter the little-known liberal activist defeat Rep. Jeb Bradley in the general election. Relations between Shea-Porter and the committee remained frosty until fairly late in her first term in Congress.
This cycle in the Granite State Republicans are faced with crowded primaries in both competitive House districts. National Republicans originally recruited Manchester Mayor Frank Guinta to run early on this cycle but his fledgling campaign has opened the door for many other local Republicans to get in the race.
While the NRCC has stood by their early recruit in Tennessee Fincher they are letting the primary play out for Guinta in New Hampshire. Bradley lost his attempt to take his seat back in 2008 after a late and bloody primary damaged his candidacy and his bank account but the risk of taking sides in an activist-driven state like New Hampshire is too risky for the national or local Republican Party.
Being the candidate of the Washington establishment is not quite the kiss of death its certainly not something that any candidate wants to run on this year" said former New Hampshire GOP Chairman Fergus Cullen.
In the past both parties have had mixed success in their efforts to covertly or not so covertly clear crowded primaries for their best prospects in some of the most competitive House races.
But with the anti-establishment sentiment among voters inflamed this cycle both local and national GOP leaders are being forced to tiptoe if at all to show some candidates the exit for fear of triggering a backlash from local activists.
About six weeks ago Missouri state GOP officials attempted to organize a meeting with state Sen. Bill Stouffer and former state Rep. Vicky Hartzler the leading GOP candidates in the Aug. 3 primary to take on longtime Democratic Rep. Ike Skelton .
According to two sources familiar with the meeting it was arranged in an effort to talk Hartzler out of running in order to clear the field for Stouffer. But Hartzler discovered the purpose of the meeting and canceled her attendance.
Vicki Hartzler canceled the meeting period" Stouffer campaign spokesman Christian Morgan said. She was going to be asked to step aside in the campaign because her support just isnt there in the district. This isnt theory. It is fact. Her revisionist history and behavior of toying with the facts is just another reason why she cannot be trusted to represent the people of rural Missouri in the U.S. Congress."
But according to Hartzler political director Samantha Hill the story is actually the other way around party officials attempted to bring the two candidates to ask Stouffer to step aside in the race. Hill said that when party leaders backed away from their promise to ask Stouffer to step aside just days before the meeting Hartzler canceled.
We kind of deliberated and said it wasnt worth our time it wasnt worth the partys time and it wasnt worth Stouffers time" Hill said.
With several notable exceptions the National Republican Congressional Committee is staying out of the primary game completely. Officially the committee says it has no policy on primaries which technically means they reserve the right to take sides even if they are unlikely to do so.
But if the field can be cleared for the right candidate it will pay off for the national party in November. Given that the NRCC is strapped for cash this cycle it will have to choose carefully which races it can afford to play in. If many of the candidates emerge from their primaries essentially broke House Republicans will have major funding problems in some of their most competitive races.
The filing deadline has not passed in several states with late primaries and contested GOP races and candidates can still remove their names from the ballot in places such as Arizona Colorado Connecticut Kansas Michigan New Hampshire New York and Wisconsin.
Just last week former Kansas state Sen. Nick Jordan (R) announced that he was dropping out of the primary in the competitive 3rd district open-seat race. Several sources said the 2008 GOP nominee stepped aside on his own volition but theres no doubt that if Jordan stayed in the race a competitive primary against well-funded state Rep. Kevin Yoder would have endangered the GOPs chances of winning the seat.
Jordan also participated in a Nov. 23 meeting in which top 3rd district GOP candidates tentatively agreed to step aside for the candidate with the best fundraising after the first quarter of 2010.
Jordan who did not return a request for an interview raised a paltry $90000 in the period while Yoder brought in $277000.
The November meeting was held in part because GOP primaries have plagued the partys chances in this competitive district for several cycles. Two candidates often a more moderate vs. a conservative Republican would run negative races against each other until the August primary allowing Democratic Rep. Dennis Moore to continue winning re-election.
Your Republican nominee would show up the day after the primary 90 days before the general election bloody and broke" said Kansas GOP consultant David Kensinger.
A spokesman for national Republicans argued that primaries will make their candidates stronger in the general election and that they will have a relationship with every winning primary campaign as a result of their implied neutrality. For example both Republican candidates in the Missouri race are in the NRCCs Young Guns" program although Stouffer ranks in the second tier while Hartzler is in the third tier.
We are not afraid to acknowledge the success of multiple candidates even if they are running in the same district" NRCC spokesman Ken Spain said. Our goal is to make every campaign better."
Nonetheless there are less-than-subtle hints about who the national GOP supports in many of these multicandidate primaries. House Minority Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia for example has endorsed car dealer Scott Rigell the leading contender in the crowded Republican primary to decide who will face Democratic Rep. Glenn Nye .
In Tennessees 8th district race for John Tanner s seat NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions (Texas) and other GOP leaders have held fundraisers for farmer Stephen Fincher. Even though Fincher is not the only competitive candidate in the race GOP leaders have continued to help Fincher because he entered the race and put together a strong campaign before the 11-term Democrat announced his retirement.
But by overtly backing a candidate in a contested primary national and local parties can put themselves in a difficult position if their preferred nominee does not win. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee fell into that trap in the 2006 cycle when their preferred candidate state Rep. Jim Craig lost the primary in New Hampshires 1st district to Carol Shea-Porter .
After Craigs loss the DCCC did not target the race and much to the surprise of Democrats watched Shea-Porter the little-known liberal activist defeat Rep. Jeb Bradley in the general election. Relations between Shea-Porter and the committee remained frosty until fairly late in her first term in Congress.
This cycle in the Granite State Republicans are faced with crowded primaries in both competitive House districts. National Republicans originally recruited Manchester Mayor Frank Guinta to run early on this cycle but his fledgling campaign has opened the door for many other local Republicans to get in the race.
While the NRCC has stood by their early recruit in Tennessee Fincher they are letting the primary play out for Guinta in New Hampshire. Bradley lost his attempt to take his seat back in 2008 after a late and bloody primary damaged his candidacy and his bank account but the risk of taking sides in an activist-driven state like New Hampshire is too risky for the national or local Republican Party.
Being the candidate of the Washington establishment is not quite the kiss of death its certainly not something that any candidate wants to run on this year" said former New Hampshire GOP Chairman Fergus Cullen.
