Rep. Pat Toomey (R.-Pa.) pledged his support and that of the Republican Study Committee at a press conference June 17 to four U.S. Senate candidates: Reps. Jim DeMint (R.-S.C.) and David Vitter (R.-La.) and former Reps. Tom Coburn (R.-Okla.) and Bob Schaffer (R.-Colo.). Toomey, after his own failed Senate bid against incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter (R.-Pa.), said he and RSC members in the House already have raised $93,000 from their own reelection campaign funds, and pledges should push that total over $100,000. Toomey said the RSC has had success in promoting its agenda for mainstream conservative ideas in the House. "However, all too often our momentum is stymied by the Senate," Toomey said in a press release. Rep. Chris Chocola (R.-Ind.) said the candidates they are supporting can help push RSC's cause forward. "If we can have some likeminded colleagues in the Senate," he said, "we can finish the job." DeMint faces a primary runoff against former Gov. David Beasley (R.) on June 22.
