TX-32

Sessions Opponent Raises Cash Off 'Smoker' Remark

Rachel Slajda | November 10, 2009, 2:10PM

Democratic candidate Grier Raggio, Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX)

Last week, during a Rules Committee meeting on the health care bill, Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) angered a lot of people when he implied it's OK to charge women more for health insurance, comparing them to smokers. Now, his Democratic challenger is trying to cash in on the outrage.

First, what happened: At the meeting, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) had been railing against gender discrimination in insurance pricing when Sessions interjected, "But that's not against the law."

"No, but we would make it against the law," Pallone responded. "Why do you have a problem with that? Why should a woman pay more than a man?"

"Well, we're all different," Sessions said. "Why should a smoker pay more?"

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Tea Party

GOP Could Face More Challenges From Right, After NY-23

Eric Kleefeld | November 6, 2009, 5:06PM

Capitol Hill, Tea-Party Rally

In the wake of the NY-23 right-wing revolt, could the GOP be on the verge of seeing even more challenges from the activist right? Some recent developments suggest that the natives are getting restless.

• NRCC chairman Pete Sessions is being challenged in the Republican primary by David Smith, a corporate financial analyst. Smith told us that the NY-23 mess was not a factor in his decision -- but it should help him in attacking Sessions: "It's nice to have my opponent in the national news for a bad reason at the same time I'm announcing my candidacy."

• Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL) is facing a Republican primary challenge from Jason Sager, a currently unemployed audio-visual engineer. Sager specifically cited Brown-Waite's having campaigned for Dede Scozzafava, the moderate Republican nominee in NY-23 who ultimately dropped out of the race and endorsed Democrat Bill Owens, as a reason for his challenge.

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Pete Sessions

Tea Party Activist Challenging NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions In GOP Primary

Eric Kleefeld | November 6, 2009, 3:23PM

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX)

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), the chairman of the NRCC, may have another problem on his hands in addition to the House GOP's recent woes in the NY-23 race: A primary challenge from a conservative activist back home.

David Smith, a corporate financial analyst, has declared his candidacy against Sessions in the Republican primary, citing the budget deficit, federal spending, and Sessions' votes for the Wall Street bailout as his main issues.

In an interview with TPM, Smith said that he has participated in Tea Parties as an activist, though he has not been an organizer, and explained that those events are motivated by the same issues of spending in Washington that he's long been concerned about. "And that begun under Republican control of the House and Senate and Republican control of the White House," said Smith. "I know it didn't boil over into marches in the streets and to the White House until a Democrat got elected, but that happened because Republicans weren't doing what people wanted, and Pete was a part of that."

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