Boehner Backing Cole's Opponent
House Republican leader John Boehner came out today for Rep. Tom Cole’s opponent in the race to run the House GOP campaign committee.
Cole, R-Moore, is running for a second term in the leadership post. He spent much of his time dealing with financial problems he inherited from past election cycles, including a mountain of debt. After retiring that debt, he faced a tough political environment for Republicans nationwide and may see his efforts result in the loss of more than 20 seats.
But Cole said this week that he thought he and the team he assembled at the National Republican Congressional Committee had managed to contain the damage — some had predicted a loss of up to 40 seats — and that he had put the committee on firm financial footing.
Still, Boehner, of Ohio, released a statement supporting Texas Rep. Pete Sessions for the job:
“Tom Cole has guided the NRCC through a difficult time for our party, and I’m sincerely grateful for his service to our team. But I believe having Pete Sessions at the helm of the NRCC in the next cycle will give House Republicans our best shot at rebuilding a majority coalition. Pete has the skills needed to recruit top-tier candidates and give them the support they need to challenge a Democratic Congress that has been bought and paid for by liberal special interests. We need Pete Sessions at the leadership table as the next chairman of the NRCC.”
Cole couldn’t be reached for comment on Thursday. There has been speculation that Boehner will actually change the rules and prevent a race between Cole and Sessions. Boehner has considered making the post subject to appointment by the Republican leader — in this case, him.
So clearly, if he does that, Sessions is in and Cole is out.
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