GOP Rep. Tim Murphy scares off big-spending foe ahead of primary

The Campaign for Primary Accountability has stopped spending money in an attempt to take out Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.), who has proven resilient after early indications he might face a tough primary.

“The resources dedicated to that race will be re-allocated to competitive primaries with credible candidates elsewhere,” said group spokesman Curtis Ellis.

{mosads}The anti-incumbent super-PAC, which successfully took out Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) in her primary, initially had pledged to spend $200,000 on the race.

It is the second big-spending group to give up on targeting Murphy, who has a somewhat centrist voting record on economic issues. The Club for Growth ran some initial ads against him but after Murphy’s Tea Party challenger, former Hill staffer Evan Feinberg, failed to raise much money the group decided not to get involved.

“There have to be a lot of dynamics in place for us to get involved in a race. Feinberg hasn’t raised much money,” Club for Growth President Chris Chocola told The Hill last week. “We don’t mind being one of the larger financial supporters of a candidate but we don’t want to be their finance committee. We think he’s great on the issues but you have to be viable.”

Murphy released a February poll showing him with a 74 to 12 percent lead, and Feinberg had just $80,000 in the bank as of the beginning of April, meaning he is unlikely to have the resources to even make Murphy nervous ahead of next Tuesday’s primary.