WASHINGTON – The National Republican Congressional Committee isn’t planning to shell out any money to help indicted Rep. Chris Collins, who’s running for reelection despite facing charges of insider trading.
“I don’t plan to spend a penny in that race,” NRCC chair Steve Stivers said Tuesday.
“And I think Chris will win on his own accord.”
Collins stunned local GOP leaders earlier this month when he decided to run again in his Buffalo-area district after previously announcing he’d suspend his campaign to deal with the federal charges.
GOP leaders from the 27th Congressional District had spent weeks determining a replacement candidate and plotting a way to get Collins off the congressional ballot. But Collins nixed their plans when he decided Sept. 17 to fight for his seat.
“I’m not surprised by anything anymore,” Stivers said of Collins’ change of heart. “It is what it is. There are things I can’t change.”
NY-27 had been a solidly safe GOP district. Now there’s a slight opening for a Democratic pick up in their quest to win back the House.
“The charges are certainly serious (against Collins),” Stivers said in an interview Tuesday with reporters at the NRCC headquarters. “But in America, people are innocent until proven guilty. And I think he has a record to run on – being effective for his district. And I think he has a relationship with his voters and I think he will win that race, but I certainly don’t plan on spending money there.”
Prior to his Aug. 8 indictment, Collins had a far bigger war chest than his Democratic challenger, Grand Island supervisor Nate McMurray.
Fundraising records show McMurray had just $81,772 in his campaign account as of June 30 — the latest data available. Collins had more than $1.3 million.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has yet to prioritize the NY-27 race by adding McMurray to its premier list of candidates who will get extra funding and organizational support to flip GOP districts.
The five New York candidates the DCCC had deemed most competitive are Perry Gershon, who is challenging Rep. Lee Zedlin on Long Island; Max Rose, who is going up against Staten Island Rep. Dan Donovan; Antonio Delgado who is taking on Rep. John Faso in the Hudson Valley; Anthony Brindisi who is competing against Rep. Claudia Tenney in the Utica region; and Dana Balter who is trying to beat Rep. John Katko in the Syracuse-area district.