CNN reports that Former Vice President Dick Cheney and a number of former Bush aides are backing Maria Cino in her run for RNC chair. Vice President Cheney will co-host a fundraiser for Cino’s 527, and daughter Mary is helping to organize the fundraising.
The fundraiser will be held at the Virginia home of GOP strategist Mary Matalin and is hosted by several veterans of Bush-Cheney world, including former RNC chairman Ed Gillespie, former New York Rep. Bill Paxon and former administration aides Melissa Bennett and Emily Lampkin.
The Buffalo native has yet to make her intentions official and will not be among the candidates participating in Wednesday’s RNC candidates forum organized by FreedomWorks and conservative members of the RNC.
But as the fundraiser makes clear, Cino is all but certain to jump in the race and could formally announce her bid at the end of next week. She is slated to participate in a closed-door interview session Thursday with the bloc of RNC conservatives.
The bold-faced names on the fundraising invite – particularly that of Gillespie, who is held in high regard among RNC insiders – could help burnish her reputation with committee members as she preps her bid.
More here.