NRSC

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.

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.

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.

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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John Cornyn

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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John Cornyn

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) will be the next chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Cornyn, who won re-election to the Senate last week by defeating Rick Noriega (D-Texas), effectively clinched the leadership position when Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) dropped his bid to run the committee this afternoon, instead choosing to focus on the recount of his Senate race in Minnesota with Al Franken.

"Norm is one of the hardest-working and well-liked members of the Republican Conference," Cornyn said in a statement delivered to PolitickerTX.com. "I sincerely appreciate his support."