John Cornyn

National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn has announced two new staff hires.

Cornyn announced today that Dorinda Moss will serve as Finance Director at the committee. Moss is a former finance staffer for American Solutions for Winning the Future. Moss also worked on Fred Thompson’s 2004 presidential campaign.

"I'm honored to have Dorinda join the top-notch team we are assembling at the NRSC as we work to recapture a Republican majority. From the private sector to the political sector, she brings a wealth of senior-level finance experience to this position. Bridging the gap in the financial advantage our Democratic counterparts have enjoyed the last two cycles is absolutely critical to our efforts to win back Republican Senate seats, and it will be among my highest priorities," Cornyn said in a statement.

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Two Texas state senators sent a letter Thursday to Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, blasting the DSCC for its lack of financial support for state Rep. Rick Noriega's (D-Houston) U.S. Senate bid against John Cornyn (R-Houston).

"The DSCC's decision is shameful and disgraceful, and we will do everything we can to prevent this disrespect from happening again," Sens. Mario Gallegos (D-Houston) and Leticia Van de Putte (D-San Antonio) wrote in the letter. "For the face of the US Senate to represent the true face of America, we must all work together to invest in quality candidates such as Rick Noriega, not take a walk when our candidate is not a member of the millionaires club." Read More >

WASHINGTON – With Illinois now possibly headed to a special election to determine the holder of President-elect Barack Obama’s Senate seat, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn isn’t yet willing to say publicly that he’s begun to reach out to potential Republican candidates, but he’s perfectly happy to play coy.

“Well, I probably wouldn’t be talking to you about that if I was,” a smiling Cornyn told PolitickerTX.com Wednesday afternoon when asked if he had begun to reach out to would-be candidates.

Obama’s seat had been all but guaranteed to stay in the Democratic column until Tuesday, when Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested for trying to sell Obama’s seat to the highest bidder. U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Illinois legislative leaders have called for a special election to fill the seat, fearing that anyone appointed by Blagojevich would be seen as tainted. The state legislature is slated to meet next week to vote on a special election bill.

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Sen. John Cornyn (R-Houston), recently selected to head the National Republican Senatorial Committee, called on Democrats Tuesday to come forward and lift the "stain of corruption" he claims was caused by the arrest of Illinois Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich for allegedly attempting to sell President-elect Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat.

"The serious allegations laid out by federal prosecutors today raise more questions than answers surrounding those who have been seeking this Senate seat, as well as those working to keep it under Democratic control," Cornyn said in a statement.

With an appointment from Blagojevich, as was expected, Republicans would have had no hope of picking up the seat. But if the Illinois legislature opts to pass a law setting a special election to fill the seat — as Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) suggested Tuesday — Republican candidates could then enter the race.

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The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is pushing state Rep. Rick Noriega (D-Houston) for secretary of veterans affairs, the Houston Chronicle reports.

With only one Latino selected for President-elect Barack Obama's Cabinet so far, Hispanic leaders have become frustrated in recent weeks at the lack of Hispanic representation in the Obama administration.

To that end, U.S. Rep. Charlie Gonzalez (D-San Antonio) and U.S. Rep. Joe Baca (D-Calif.) sent a letter Tuesday to Obama's transition team, recommending Noriega and 13 other Hispanic politicians for various posts within the Cabinet.

Baca told Bloomberg News that Caucus members would "definitely be disappointed" if only one Latino was chosen for the cabinet. Bloomberg reports that Baca "warned that Obama's legislative agenda could be jeopardized if the president-elect doesn't nominate additional Hispanics."

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WASHINGTON – Two weeks after his anointment as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Houston) is facing his first test of the 2010 cycle.

On Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) announced that he would not be running to reclaim the seat he has held for one term. Martinez, a former Housing and Urban Development secretary and co-chairman of the Republican National Committee, had been seen as a top target for Senate Democrats in the 2010 cycle. A November Quinnipiac survey found a plurality of Florida voters saying Martinez should not be re-elected to a second term.

For Cornyn’s team, Martinez’s announcement came as little surprise, sources said. Martinez has been maintaining a meager campaign bank account, with just $1.2 million on hand through the end of September. When the Florida Republican cancelled an annual fundraiser several weeks ago, the writing was on the wall.

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President Bush has pardoned three Texans convicted of non-violent crimes.  According to an AP report, none of those pardoned are well-known, and their crimes are fairly mundane.  

Bush pardoned Brenda Jean Dolenz-Helmer, a Fort Worth woman convicted of mail fraud charges. Her father was convicted of running a worker's compensation scheme, and Dolenz-Helmer filed the insurance paperwork. William McCright, Jr. of Midland was convicted of making false entries, books, reports, or statements to a bank. Conroe resident Daniel Pue, III had been convicted of transporting, disposing, and storing hazardous waste without a permit.      

What is causing concern among some conservatives are two names Bush left off his pardon list: Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos.  Compean and Ramos were border patrol agents who shot a man transporting drugs near the U.S.-Mexico border in 2005.

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Rob Jesmer helped John Cornyn win reelection to the U.S. Senate, but he's unlikely to sit and savor his victory for too long.  He now faces a tougher challenge: managing the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Cornyn was elected NRSC chairman earlier this week, and he selected Jesmer, his campaign manager, to be the committee's executive director.

Once again, Republicans will be defending more Senate seats than Democrats, including some in battleground states such as Ohio and Florida. That may not phase Jesmer, who has helped direct campaigns in both favorable and unfavorable political climates during his career.

Terry Nelson hired Jesmer to work for the National Republican Congressional Committee in 1999. The two also briefly worked together on U.S. Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) presidential campaign. He said Jesmer understands how to bring together the intricacies of a campaign. 

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Former Texas Attorney General Jim Mattox has died. According to the Austin American-Statesman, he passed away in his sleep.  He was part of the last Democratic guard that governed the state until the 1990's.

Mattox, 65, was a dominant fixture in state politics for many years and was known as a scrappy campaigner. An opponent once labeled him the "junkyard dog" of Texas politics. His folksy, combative style endeared him to many Texans, while alienating others. He served as Attorney General from 1983-1991. Before that, he represented the 5th Congressional District from 1977-1983.   

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WASHINGTON – Incoming National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn is wasting no time getting down to business at his new post, immediately putting in place a new executive director for the committee and announcing intentions to revamp the NRSC’s fundraising and recruiting operations.

After a closed-door GOP Conference meeting in the Capitol building this morning in which he was unanimously elected NRSC chairman, Cornyn announced that Rob Jesmer, a seasoned operative who has held posts at the Republican National Committee and National Republican Congressional Committee and who in 2008 managed Cornyn’s re-election, will serve as the committee’s executive director.

“[Planning for the NRSC] starts now,” Cornyn said in a short interview following the meeting. “I thought it was premature to start much in the way of planning until I was elected, and so now we’ll get to work.”

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