New Super PAC Targets House Incumbents From Both Parties

A super PAC out of Texas is aiming to defeat incumbents of both parties. To further its goal, the Campaign for Primary Accountability recently threw its weight behind a tea party favorite and a liberal icon, The Washington Post reported.

The group spent nearly $190,000 in support of leading liberal Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, in his unsuccessful primary race against Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, who began serving in Congress in 1983, and GOP tea party favorite Brad Wenstrup, who challenged Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Ohio. Kucinich lost in his redrawn district but Wenstrup, who has never held office, won, the Post reported.

The group was started by the son of a Houston construction magnate and is targeting longtime incumbents in the House.

“We’re trying to make the electoral system competitive, so that Congress will become more accountable to the voters,” Leo Linbeck, the founder of the new super PAC, told the Post. “It’s not about policy, it’s about governance. We’re not interested in shifting power between Republicans and Democrats. We’re interested in shifting power between Congress and the people.”

The group promises to use its war chest of almost $2 million to target numerous incumbents. The group chose to back Kucinich over Kaptur because of his independence. “No one was ever more independent, no one has ever accused Dennis Kucinich of being beholden to party leadership,” Curtis Ellis, spokesman for the Campaign for Primary Accountability, told the Post.