NRCC picks top challengers as Young Guns

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) on Wednesday unveiled the first 13 candidates in its new recruiting program and said it aims to train 80 strong candidates this cycle.
 
In unveiling the first batch of candidate to receive the committee’s assistance, NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas) said his goal this cycle is to take back the majority, which would require a gain of 40 seats. In order to win that many seats, though, he said the committee would need twice as many strong candidates.
 
{mosads}“Playing offense is how we’re going to win back the majority,” he said.
 
That effort began with its first 13 inductees Wednesday. The new list includes two former members of Congress – ex-Reps. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.) and Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) – as well as top challengers from Hawaii to New Hampshire.
 
The committee also endorsed two of the 13: former state Rep. Dennis Ross in the race to succeed Rep. Adam Putnam (R-Fla.) and Iraq veteran Adam Kinzinger in the race against freshman Rep. Debbie Halvorson’s (D-Ill.).
 
In releasing the list Wednesday, Sessions also for the first time detailed how the program would be run.
 
In order to get involved in the NRCC’s program, Sessions said candidates must demonstrate a base of support, develop a media messaging plan for the race and show they are capable of raising enough money to get their message out.
 
He said too often members who lost in recent years eased their way into Congress without much trouble or campaign experience and then found themselves unprepared when things got difficult.
 
“Too many people came to Congress without being well-rounded,” he said. “Those days are gone.”
 
Candidates begin at stage one of the program, which is labeled “on the radar.” From there, they can ascend to “contender” status and, if they reach the highest level of the program, they are labeled “young guns.”
 
All 13 members of the program are at the first stage for now. They also include Martha Roby, who is running against Rep. Bobby Bright (D-Ala.); Van Tran, who is running against Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.); Cory Gardner, who is running against Rep. Betsy Markey (D-Colo.); Charles Djou, who is running for gubernatorial candidate Neil Abercrombie’s (D-Hawaii) open seat; Vaughn Ward, who is running against Rep. Walt Minnick (D-Idaho); Andy Harris, who is running against Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-Md.); Frank Guinta, who is running against Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-N.H.); Jon Barela, who is running against Rep. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.); and Steve Stivers, who is running against Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Ohio).
 
A few top candidates who entered their races in the last month have yet to be placed on the list but could be soon. Sessions said, for instance, that Alabama state Sen. Alan Nunnelee, who just announced he would challenge Rep. Parker Griffith (D-Ala.), would soon be a part of the program.
 
{mosads}Sessions said the program aims to help whichever candidates qualify for it, and he even suggested that multiple candidates from the same primary could get involved.
 
He said he would rather not have primaries, especially late ones in the weeks before the general election. But he said the committee would “avoid the temptation of using our resources in primaries” and preferred to instead send a signal with its endorsements to local donors and activists.
 
The two endorsements include Ross’s, in which he is likely to face a nominal primary challenge. As the chairman of a committee that has been criticized recently for not throwing around its weight in primaries, Sessions signaled its primary philosophy will change to some degree.
 
“I am more concerned about victory than I am about waiting to see if I have a competitive primary,” he said.
 
Ryan Rudominer, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), said the GOP’s emerging recruiting class represents more of the same, particularly with the two former members.
 
“Based on what we’ve seen so far, the only thing that the Republicans’ Young Guns program seems to be gunning for is a return to the failed days of George Bush,” Rudominer said.

This story was updated at 4:30 p.m.