The retiring Pennsylvania Congressman will not go quietly into the night: he’s organized a team of House members who are bankrolling current and former conservative colleagues now running for the Senate (where, if elected, they will hopefully offset the votes of Arlen Specter). Here’s part of a release from a press conference Toomey held yesterday in D.C.:
Conservative House Members Back Colleagues with Resources
Washington, DC — Mainstream conservative House members, led by Congressman Pat Toomey, R-Pa., today announced that they have contributed significant resources to fellow Republican Study Committee members and former members who are running for the U.S. Senate.
To date, House conservatives have contributed $88,500 from their re-election committees and their political action committees to four mainstream Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate. They also have commitments that will put them over the $100,000 mark. The candidates for U.S. Senate who will receive the funds are Reps. Jim DeMint, R-SC and David Vitter, R-LA. and former Reps. Tom Coburn, R-OK, and Bob Schaffer, R-CO.
Toomey flanked by several members of the RSC stated, “We all came to Congress, in part because we believe in the mainstream, conservative ideas at the heart of the Republican Party. We are all part of a group — the RSC — that exists to help advance these principles within the Republican Conference and within the House. We’ve enjoyed considerable success in moving this agenda forward. However, all too often our momentum is stymied by the Senate.”
Toomey continued, “That is why we decided it was time for us to help several candidates for the Senate, all of whom, have proven their commitment and leadership on Republican principles and are currently, or were recently members of the RSC. To date, we have collected, in-hand $88,500 for these 4 great candidates. All of these funds have come from our own campaign committees or our PACs and we hope to continue to raise more to assist these folks in becoming U.S. Senators.”