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Coleman faces challenge from his former adviser |
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By Aaron Blake
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Posted: 06/13/07 07:37 PM [ET] |
An Iraq war veteran and former adviser to Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) yesterday said he is considering a primary challenge against the lawmaker in 2008.
Retired Lt. Col. Joe Repya (R) lost a race for the state Republican Party chairmanship last week, after which speculation began to percolate that he would challenge Coleman.
Yesterday, in a statement, Repya confirmed that he is mulling a run. He said he will travel around the state and talk to people about the viability of a bid during the next two months.
“I’ve received numerous calls and have been approached by a number of people who have asked me to consider running against Norm Coleman for U.S. Senate,” Repya said. “I am making no decisions at this time. I am going take 30 to 60 days to decide what my political future is going to be.”
In a brief phone interview with The Hill, Repya declined to comment further or offer his motivation for the potential challenge. Observers say he would likely challenge Coleman from the right.
Coleman has been one of the most centrist Republicans in the Senate this year, most recently voting with six other GOPers to bring a no-confidence vote on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to a vote.
Coleman’s campaign manager, Cullen Sheehan, said, “Joe has been a friend,” but declined to comment further until Repya makes an announcement.
Repya is a well-known pro-Iraq war activist in Minnesota and a veteran of Vietnam, Desert Storm and the current Iraq war.
When the current Iraq war was beginning, he organized a large rally at the state Capitol to show support for the troops.
He offered to reenlist in the Army after Sept. 11, 2001 — despite being in his 50s — and returned to Iraq in 2005.
While knocking off Coleman in a primary likely will be tough, Repya’s primary candidacy could well affect the dynamics of what is supposed to be one of the most competitive general election races in the country.
Coleman is a top Democratic target in a swing state and already has drawn several significant Democratic challengers.
David Schultz, a political expert at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn., said Coleman is getting stronger now and suggested that a primary challenge from the right could actually help him burnish his centrist credentials.
Coleman is well ahead of his top two potential Democratic challengers, comedian Al Franken and attorney Mike Ciresi, in the most recent polling. He led both by more than 20 points in a Minnesota Public Radio poll last month.
But a Repya candidacy could force Coleman to spend resources that he otherwise would have spent in the general election, Schultz said.
“This is Norm Coleman’s race to lose,” Schultz said. “The Republicans are pretty united behind Coleman. They want this one statewide and nationally. [Repya’s] entry into the race makes what I think is a fairly certain victory at this point a little bit more complicated.”
Jess McIntosh, a spokeswoman for Franken, said Coleman “has always put his own political power above principle, so if you have real convictions on either side of the aisle, Norm Coleman is probably not your guy.”
Ciresi spokeswoman Leslie Sandberg said that all candidates are welcome and that more candidates make for a better debate, so that Minnesotans “can make an informed decision.”
Repya advised Coleman on veterans’ and military issues during his 2002 race against then-Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.). Wellstone died in a plane crash shortly before Election Day, and Coleman narrowly defeated his replacement, former Vice President Walter Mondale.
Repya also has worked for Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) and was the state co-chairman of Veterans for Bush-Cheney in 2004, before being recalled to the Army.
He announced in April that he would run for state party chairman, but Saturday fell to incumbent Chairman Ron Carey by a vote of 195-150.
During the campaign, Repya ran as “GOP Joe” and criticized Carey for the party’s losses in the state in the 2006 elections. Democrats retook the state House and strengthened their hold on the state Senate. Repya said GOP losses in Minnesota
were worse than elsewhere in the country.
National Republicans are standing behind Coleman.
“Norm Coleman is a champion of his constituents and we look forward to his reelection in 2008,” a spokeswoman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Rebecca Fisher, said.
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