Tag: National Republican Congressional Committee

Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds, R-NY, his political fortunes damaged by an accounting scandal at the National Republican Congressional Committee, has decided not to seek re-election.

The five-term congressman announced today that he will not run again in his western New York district.

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He is the 29th House Republican to step aside. His absence from the ticket is expected to give Democrats a shot at what has been until recent years a safe Republican seat.

Reynolds, 57, was chairman of the NRCC, a group that raises funds for congressional candidates, from 2003 to 2007. One of his first acts upon assuming leadership was to appoint Christopher J. Ward as treasurer.

Ward is now under FBI investigation for possibly diverting as much as $1 million from the NRCC and other groups that he worked with.

At least three people had been seeking the Democratic nomination to run against Reynolds in the 26th congressional district. Each of them has made the missing money a campaign issue.

“Does Tom Reynolds ever accept responsibility for his poor leadership, or does he just pass the buck?” recently asked a spokesman for Jonathan Powers, an Iraq War veteran who has been campaigning for the nomination for months.

Reynolds has denied any knowledge of Ward’s activities, which allegedly included the submission of faked audits.

“At no point in time were any red flags raised about those audits,” Reynolds said in a statement released last month.

In announcing his decision today, Reynolds said he did believe he could have been re-elected were he to run again. He also said a Republican would win in the fall. “Make no mistake, this is a Republican district and it will be represented by a Republican,” he said.

Alice J. Kryzan, a lawyer who lives in Amherst, a Buffalo suburb, is also seeking the Democratic nomination.

Jack Davis, a millionaire who came close to defeating Reynolds in the 2006 election, has been preparing to oppose Reynolds for what would have been the third time.

Davis, who lives in Clarence, Erie County, said recently that he was willing to spend $3 million of his own funds in the election.

The Buffalo News reported today that the top Republican contenders to replace Reynolds are New York state Sen. George D. Maziarz of Newfane, Niagara County, and state Assemblyman James E. Hayes of Amherst.

New York’s 26th district includes all or parts of seven counties in western New York.

It mixes parts of suburban Buffalo and suburban Rochester with numerous rural communities and had been tailor-made for Republicans.

But Reynolds was pressed by Davis last time around and had to spend $5.2 million, an unusually high sum for the district, in a winning effort.

• The case of the NRCC and the missing money – March 11, 2008
• Joe Lieberman blazes his own path – March 10, 2008
• Out of the park and into politics – October 13, 2007
• Mark Warner running for Senate – September 13, 2007
• Lobbyist Black defends McCain on lobbyist issue – February 24, 2008
• The politics of Warren Buffett – July 14, 2007
• J.C. Watts mentioned as possible VP – February 20, 2008
• VECO corruption trial begins – October 23, 2007
• The meteoric rise of Blackwater – October 3, 2007
• Ickes helps the Clintons through a new crisis – February 11, 2008