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A top aide to ousted Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-Md.) criticized the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) on Tuesday for not sharing polling information it had on the race prior to the Feb. 12 primary.
Campaign manager and chief of staff Tony Caligiuri also suggested that Gilchrest didn’t receive help from the committee because he hasn’t raised much money for the party in years past. He said that sends a strange message to other incumbents who might face primaries in the future.
“If you’re asking members of Congress to raise a lot of money, contribute a lot of money and come up with 30 grand for the President’s Dinner every year, and you do find yourself in a political bind, you’d want to know that the party’s going to be there,” Caligiuri said.
Gilchrest, a political maverick whose votes against funding the Iraq war led to a conservative challenge, has never raised much money for the party or, until this year, his own campaign.
A day after the nine-term incumbent Gilchrest lost the primary, the NRCC released a poll showing the primary winner, Republican state Sen. Andy Harris, beating the Democratic nominee, Queen Anne’s County state’s attorney Frank Kratovil.
“They never offered to do any polling for us or really do anything financially for us before the primary, yet they were polling the Harris-Kratovil race, which was kind of a curious thing,” Caligiuri said. “The fact that they spent however much it costs to test Harris in a poll without ever doing anything to support the incumbent is kind of a chilling message to incumbents.”
Had the NRCC shared the polling memo, it would have had to list it as an in-kind contribution to the campaign. NRCC Chairman Tom Cole (Okla.) has said that the committee, which trails its Democratic counterpart badly in cash on hand, can’t afford to save members from primaries and won’t get financially involved in them.
Caligiuri said it is the NRCC’s decision whether to support incumbents in primaries, but also stressed that the NRCC depends on members for much of its funding.
He said the last time the NRCC contacted the campaign was months ago to clarify that Cole’s endorsement of Gilchrest was a personal one and not reflective of the committee.
Asked if there were hard feelings about the situation, Caligiuri said there were “no feelings” but added that Gilchrest isn’t likely to be involved in GOP politics in the years ahead.
A spokeswoman for the NRCC reiterated the committee’s goal of winning seats in November.
“The NRCC’s primary job is to rebuild our Republican majority,” spokeswoman Julie Shutley said. “To that end, the NRCC has and continues to reach out to all of our Republican members and their campaign staff to make sure they have the tools and resources they need to run successful campaigns.”
Caligiuri left open the possibility that Gilchrest might endorse Kratovil in the general election after a nasty primary battle with Harris. Harris defeated Gilchrest 43-33, bringing an end to the centrist incumbent’s 18-year House career.
Gilchrest has regularly won two-thirds of the general election vote, making his endorsement potentially key to an uphill battle for Kratovil.
“No decision has been made about anything,” Caligiuri said.
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