Incoming House Speaker John Boehner is backing Dick Cheney’s choice for the next chair of the Republican National Commitee, according to multiple reports this afternoon.
Boehner “has made at least one call to advocate” for ex-Republican National Convention chief Maria Cino, Roll Call reports. CNN’s Peter Hamby first reported Boehner’s lobbying effort, reporting that Bohener has made “calls” on Cino’s behalf. In the past, Boehner had promised to stay out of the RNC fight.
Staff for Boehner didn’t offer a response to Roll Call, but as the paper points out, Boehner giving Cino his support wouldn’t be too surprising. Boehner’s known Cino for years and his chief of staff served with Cino when she was part of the George W. Bush administration. Cino is among the more experienced political operatives in the race to be the next chair of the RNC, though she is generally seen as running near the back of the pack.
As Hamby wrote, the next RNC chair “will be chosen by the 168 party activists who make up the party organization, and no one else,” which makes it unclear how important the outside backing of prominent Republicans like Cheney and Boehner will be for Cino in the end.
Still, every little bit counts, especially in the race that many see as still being up for grabs. RNC members will convene outside DC on Jan. 14 to choose a new chair as part of their annual Winter Meeting.
Evan McMorris-Santoro
Evan McMorris-Santoro has covered politics for TPM since 2009. Before that, he was a reporter at National Journal’s Hotline covering election 2008. He started his career covering local politics at newspapers in TN and his native NC.
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