Several GOP Recruits Passing Up Congressional Bids

Republicans have had a difficult time lately convincing some of their more highly regarded recruits to jump into hotly contested races.

-- In Ohio, former Attorney General Jim Petro (R) decided not to run in the seat vacated by retiring GOP Rep. Deborah Pryce. Then former Columbus Mayor Greg Lashutka passed up a bid. The local Republican party is now scrambling to find a viable candidate to challenge Mary Jo Kilroy, the likely Democratic nominee.

-- North Carolina Republicans are also hitting a recruitment snag in finding a challenger to freshman Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.). Former GOP Rep. Charles Taylor, who lost to Shuler last year, has refused to announce his future intentions.

Other candidates have deferred to Taylor before making their own decision, but his delay has frustrated potential candidates. District Attorney Jeff Hunt, considered a strong contender, took his name out of the running yesterday. (The webmaster of the Henderson County Republican party has shut down the party’s website out of frustration with Taylor.)

-- And in many conservative-leaning districts, Republican candidates have yet to come forward. Rep. Baron Hill (D-Ind.) still doesn’t have a GOP challenger in a district that gave President Bush 59 percent of the vote. Rep. John Barrow (D-Ga.), who won reelection by only a razor-thin margin, also hasn’t drawn any competition.

-- Granted, the party has landed some impressive recruits, from state Sen. David Cappiello in Connecticut to retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Rick Goddard in Georgia. And there’s still time for candidates to emerge and raise money. But the fact that leading candidates are deciding to pass up campaigns in favorable territory indicates that the environment isn’t looking too favorable right now for the GOP.