Northup weighs repeat bid after Roberts called to duty

Former Rep. Anne Northup (R-Ky.) is seriously considering another run for Congress in light of Wednesday’s news that current GOP candidate Erwin Roberts is suspending his campaign after being called to active duty in the Army Reserves.

{mosads}Longtime Northup adviser Ted Jackson said just hours after Roberts’s announcement that the five-term congresswoman is mulling her third campaign in two years. After losing to Rep. John Yarmuth (D) in 2006, she lost a primary against then-Gov. Ernie Fletcher in May 2007.

Roberts did not cancel his campaign in case his situation with the Reserves changes. But with less than two weeks until the filing deadline, Republicans will feel pressure to get another candidate on the ballot in what is supposed to be one of their top-targeted districts.

Candidates must file by Jan. 29 at 4 p.m.

Sources said nobody could bring to the table the kind of name recognition and fundraising ability at such a late date that Northup provides. Northup is also personally wealthy and could potentially help fund her campaign, which is a plus with the National Republican Congressional Committee in financial straits.

Jackson said Northup would not sign up for the race as an alternative in case Roberts can’t run. She has supported Roberts’s candidacy and held a fundraiser for him.

“She’s not going to just be a stalking horse of some kind out there in case something happens with him,” Jackson said. “If she files, she’s in.”