Tuesday, February 01, 2000
Stealth candidate a GOP mystery
Party's never heard of Tooley
BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Who is Scott Tooley? And why is he running for the nomination to Congress in Northern Kentucky's 4th District?
You would expect such questions from average voters who had never heard of Mr. Tooley, a 25-year-old Nebraska native and former Virginia resident.
But even Republican Party leaders are asking about the GOP candidate.
“I had never heard of him and yes, it surprised me when he filed to run for the seat,” said 4th District GOP Chairman Jay Hall of Florence.
“I've never heard from him or of him,” said Kentucky Republican Party Chairman Damon Thayer of Crittenden. “A lot of people are asking me who he is, but I just don't know.”
Mr. Tooley recently moved to Shelby County, Ky., and has filed to run in May's Republican primary for the Kentucky 4th District U.S. House seat. The seat is held by Ken Lucas, a first-term Democrat from Boone County.
Two Republicans are already in the race, Don Bell of Oldham County and Roger Thoney of Highland Heights. Mr. Thayer and other party leaders are curious as to why Mr. Tooley decided to file for the primary before talking to Republican Party officials.
“It's pretty hard to deter mine what this will mean in the primary,” Mr. Thayer said Monday. “This is somebody who moves into the far end of the (4th) District and has never made contact with the leaders or activists in the party. That's unusual. But we're waiting to hear from him.”
Calls to Mr. Tooley's cell phone, which has a northern Virginia phone number, were not returned Monday. The Shelby County phone number he gave to the secretary of state's office when he filed his campaign papers last weekwas not answered Monday.
“I have not talked to a single Republican in Shelby County, in Northern Kentucky or in the 4th District that has ever heard of him,” Mr. Bell said. “It's a mystery. I don't know who he is.”
Mr. Tooley told the Louisville Courier-Journal last week that he has worked as an aide to U.S. Rep. Chris Cox, a Republican from California.
He said he recently moved to Simpsonville, Ky., so his wife, Rebecca, could be closer to her family in Louisville. Simpsonville is in Shelby County, which is east of Louisville.
Mr. Tooley also told the paper he is against abortion, for gay rights and for a permanent ban on Internet taxes.
The most recent edition of the Congressional Staff Directory lists Mr. Tooley as working as a computer systems administrator and Web master for Mr. Cox.
Mr. Cox's Washington of fice confirmed Monday that Mr. Tooley worked there for about a year and that he recently left, but a spokeswoman would not say any more about him.
Mr. Tooley registered to vote on Jan. 24 in Shelby County, the day before he filed to run for Congress.
Mr. Tooley is also a mystery to Kenton County GOP Chairman Greg Shumate of Villa Hills, who suspects that the candidate was recruited by national party officials in Washington.
“The (Republican National Committee) has been recruiting heavily in this area for a candidate for that race,” Mr. Shumate said. “I imagine he came from there.”
Calls to the RNC as well as to the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), which works to recruit and elect GOP candidates to Congress, were not returned Monday. The NRCC, however, has tracked Mr. Lucas' record since he was elected in 1998 and has often attacked his votes in Congress.
Mr. Thayer said he does not think that any of the national GOP apparatus was involved in recruiting Mr. Tooley.
And Mr. Bell said he has been told that the RNC was not involved in getting Mr. Tooley in the race. “My only question would be is he a legal resident of Kentucky?” Mr. Bell said.
Mr. Lucas' campaign did not comment on Mr. Tooley entering the primary.
The campaign did put out a press release Monday on how much money it has raised and the amount of cash it has to spend on Mr. Lucas' re-election bid.
Mr. Lucas raised $133,655 during the second half of 1999 and $457,863 for the entire year, according to the report he filed with the Federal Election Commission. The campaign has $336,000 cash on hand, according to Lucas aide Travis Sowders.
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