GOP to target Rep. Skelton in 2010

Republicans are launching new advertisements and recruiting stronger candidates in an attempt to unseat 17-term Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), the current chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, the Associated Press reported today.

To do so, the National Republican Congressional Committee hopes to leverage the representative’s support for health care reform and the federal stimulus as evidence Skelton is out of touch with his conservative-learning district.

But Skelton, who was first elected to Congress in 1977, has not won an election by a margin less than 10 points since 1982, when redistricting pit him against then-Rep. Wendell Bailey (R-Mo.). The GOP hopes to change that in 2010, and it has its sights on two candidates — state Sen. Bill Stouffer and state Rep. Vicky Hartzler — who plan to hammer the incumbent for voting more with the Democratic leadership in recent years.

“Is it an uphill battle? Certainly,” state GOP Executive Director Lloyd Smith admitted to the AP. “I think the people in the 4th District are going to say, ‘It’s time for a change.'”