NRCC Takes Out $8 Million Loan to Help Efforts

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) confirmed Wednesday it took out an $8 million loan in recent days, a move it hopes will add a significant last-minute push to its efforts in House races across the country.

The loan closely mirrors one taken out shortly before the major losses in the 2006 midterm elections for Republicans. The NRCC views that money as having helped their last-minute efforts, and hope it will have an even larger impact this cycle.

Republicans also attributed the need for the loan to the nearly $1 million in embezzlement lost to former treasurer Christopher Ward. The GOP emphasized that the committee often goes into debt, which is largely recovered by fundraising efforts early in the following year.

There was no immediate indication as to where the $8 million would be spent. The NRCC has started to make major expenditures only in recent days, spending in competitive races in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, and New Jersey in recent days.

“Not even $8 million and a gang of shady right wing soft money groups will be enough to bail out a party bankrupt of ideas on how to fix our economy, lower gas prices, and end the war in Iraq,” said Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) spokesman Doug Thornell.

The NRCC reported having $14.5 million in cash on hand through the end of August, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings. The DCCC reported having nearly $54 million in cash on hand at the end of the same period.

Both parties