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NRCC picks top challengers as Young Guns 
Aaron Blake 
The Hill

http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/nrcc-picks-top-challengers-as-young-guns-2009-07-29.html

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) on Wednesday unveiled the first 13 candidates in its new Young Guns program, which aims to help non-incumbents win in top races around the country.

The new list includes two former members of Congress — ex-Reps. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.) and Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) — as well as top challengers from Hawaii to New Hampshire.

The committee also endorsed two of the 13: former state Rep. Dennis Ross in the race to succeed Rep. Adam Putnam (R-Fla.) and Iraq veteran Adam Kinzinger in the race against freshman Rep. Debbie Halvorson (D-Ill.).

In announcing the new members of the program, committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas) also for the first time detailed how the program would be run.

Candidates begin at Stage One of the program, which is labeled “on the radar.” From there, they can ascend to “contender” status and, if they reach the highest level of the program, they are labeled “young guns.”

All 13 members of the program are at the first stage for now. They also include Martha Roby, who is running against Rep. Bobby Bright (D-Ala.); Van Tran, who is running against Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.); Cory Gardner, who is running against Rep. Betsy Markey (D-Colo.); Charles Djou, who is running for gubernatorial candidate Neil Abercrombie’s (D-Hawaii) open seat; Vaughn Ward, who is running against Rep. Walt Minnick (D-Idaho); Andy Harris, who is running against Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-Md.); Frank Guinta, who is running against Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-N.H.); Jon Barela, who is running against Rep. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.); and Steve Stivers, who is running against Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Ohio).

In order to get involved in the NRCC’s program, Sessions said candidates must demonstrate a base of support, develop a media messaging plan for the race and show they are capable of raising enough money to get their message out.

He said too often members who lost in recent years eased their way into Congress without much trouble or campaign experience and then found themselves unprepared when things got difficult.

“Too many people came to Congress without being well-rounded,” he said. “Those days are gone.”

The new program aims to help whichever candidates qualify for it, and Sessions even suggested that multiple candidates from the same primary could get involved.

He suggested he would like to avoid primaries, especially late ones in the weeks before the general election. But he said the committee would “avoid the temptation of using our resources in primaries” and preferred to instead merely send a signal with its endorsements to local donors and activists.

The two endorsements include Ross’s, in which he is likely to face a nominal primary challenge. As the chairman of a committee that has been criticized recently for not throwing around its weight in primaries, Sessions signaled its primary philosophy will change to some degree.

“I am more concerned about victory than I am about waiting to see if I have a competitive primary,” he said.