Texas Rep. Pete Sessions, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, has drawn a challenger in the 2010 Republican primary in the state's Dallas-area 32nd District.

David Smith, a corporate financial analyst, said that he is readying a campaign that will focus on accountability, fiscal responsibility and the economy. He plans an official campaign kickoff event on Monday.

Smith, who recently moved to Dallas from Denton County north of the city, opposed Sessions' votes in 2008 for a $700 billion program to stabilize the financial markets. He said the party hasn't adhered to fiscally conservative principles outlined in GOP platforms.

Virginia Republicans Ben Loyola and Scott Rigell, who are challenging first-term Democratic Rep. Glenn Nye in the 2nd District, have invested substantial personal resources into their campaigns.

Loyola, a businessman, loaned his campaign $500,000 in this year's third quarter, according to a report his campaign filed Thursday with the Federal Election Commission. Loyola's loan comprised more than 90 percent of the $548,000 in total receipts he reported for the three-month period that began July 1 and ended Sept. 30.

Rigell, who owns car dealerships, gave personal loans or contributions to his campaign totaling $226,000, or almost exactly half of the $453,000 in total receipts. He relied more than Loyola on contributions from individual donors.

Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, and the National Republican Congressional Committee are going all in to help former Rep. Steve Pearce take back New Mexico's 2nd District.

The NRCC, which is bullish about Pearce's prospects of unseating freshman Democrat Harry Teague, gave Pearce $5,000 in the second quarter and Sessions chipped in another $5,000 from his political action committee and $2,000 from his personal campaign committee, helping push the Republican past $500,000 for the period.

Pearce raised $452,000 from individuals and another $55,000 from PACs and party committees to reach that huge total. Other House Republicans, including Minority Leader John A. Boehner of Ohio, Lamar Smith of Texas, Spencer Bachus of Alabama, John Kline of Minnesota and John L. Mica of Florida, also chipped in to Pearce's campaign.

If Republicans fail to unseat freshman Virginia Democratic Rep. Glenn Nye next year, it won't be because of a lack of interest.

Scott Taylor, a businessman and former Navy SEAL, announced his candidacy Tuesday, becoming the sixth Republican to make preparations to seek the seat in southeastern Virginia's 2nd District.

These half-dozen candidates are competing for the nomination to challenge Nye, a former international development official whose 2008 victory over Republican Rep. Thelma Drake -- by a 5 percentage-point margin -- came in his first bid for public office.

Taylor, in a video on his campaign Web site, says that "as your congressman, I'll work to protect traditional values, guard our 2nd Amendment rights, decrease the tax burden for individuals and businesses, and do everything I can to strengthen our free market system."

There's an outside chance Florida Republicans could have yet another open seat on their hands in 2010: the 21st Congressional District.

The Palm Beach Post reports that Republican Gov. Charlie Crist asked 21st District Republican Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart to fill out an application for the soon-to-be-vacant U.S. Senate seat.

Crist is tasked with appointing a successor to Republican Sen. Mel Martinez, who announced Aug. 7 he will soon resign.

The Post reported that Crist sent Senate applications to two other potential successors: former U.S. Attorney Roberto Martinez and Jim Smith, former Florida Secretary of State and state Attorney General.

CORRECTION: Corrects to say former U.S. Attorney Roberto Martinez, not former Gov. Bob Martinez, received an application.

John Cherry's two terms as lieutenant governor of Michigan make him a solid early favorite to win the nomination for the contest to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm. But it has long been clear that he will face opponents for the August 2010 primary, with the main question being, "How many?"

That number rose to two officially announced rivals last week, when former state Rep. John Freeman told the Detroit Free Press he is getting into the race. Freeman, a lawyer, joined state Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith, who announced her bid for governor in late June.

George Perles, a former head football coach at Michigan State University and now an elected trustee of that school, has not officially launched a candidacy but has publicly stated he plans to run. And two experienced officeholders, Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano and state House Speaker Andy Dillon, are thinking about entering the Democratic race.

Former New Hampshire Sen. Robert Smith has raised little money for a long-shot 2010 Senate bid in his adopted state of Florida. But the Republican's former staff certainly is loyal to him.

Smith raised just $17,421 in this year's second quarter, a pittance compared to the raised by the leading Republican candidates, Gov. Charlie Crist ($4.3 million) and former state House Speaker Marco Rubio ($340,000). Smith's few dozen donors included some former aides from his days representing New Hampshire in the Senate from 1991 through 2002.

Thomas L. Lankford, a former Smith defense aide who is now a vice president at Van Scoyoc Associates, gave $1,000 to his former boss.

Count Virginia automobile dealer Scott Rigell among the Republican challengers to freshman Democratic Rep. Glenn Nye in the state's 2nd District in and around Virginia Beach.

Rigell, the president of Freedom Automotive, said Wednesday that he's filed the necessary candidate paperwork with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Rigell said that he will "move quickly to organize a strong grassroots campaign" and will make a formal candidacy announcement in November, after Virginia conducts its election for governor.

According to CQ MoneyLine, Rigell has been a frequent contributor to Republican committees and candidates in Virginia, including Ed Schrock, who represented the 2nd from 2001 through 2004, and Thelma Drake, who held the seat from 2005 through 2008, when she lost to Nye by 5 percentage points. Rigell said that Drake and other GOP officeholders have endorsed his candidacy.

Former state party Republican chairman Robin Smith kicked off her House campaign in Tennessee Wednesday, adding her name to the open field forming to succeed Republican Rep. Zach Wamp.

Smith resigned her position as chairman last month to begin preparing her campaign. Wamp announced in January his intention to run for governor in 2010.

State Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith confirmed Friday that, as expected, she is joining the crowded 2010 race for governor of Michigan. She previously staged a short-lived bid for the same office in 2002.

Smith, whose state House district includes the eastern Michigan city of Ypsilanti, is the third Democrat to enter the race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm. She joins Lt. Gov. John Cherry and George Perles, a former head football coach at Michigan State University and now an elected trustee of that school who has publicly stated he plans to run.

Cherry is considered the early favorite for the Democratic nomination, having served alongside Granholm for both her two terms.

Former New Hampshire Sen. Robert C. Smith announced Monday that he is once again officially a candidate for the Senate - this time for the open seat in Florida.

Smith, who served in the Senate from 1991 to 2003, has lived in Sarasota, Fla., for seven years. He joins a GOP primary field that includes Gov. Charlie Crist and former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio for the seat Republican Mel Martinez is leaving after one term. Four-term Rep. Kendrick Meek announced his candidacy in January and is the leading Democratic in the growing field of candidates.

"I can no longer sit on the sidelines in this fight for the soul of the Republican Party and to preserve the freedoms and values of our constitutional Republic," Smith said in a statement posted on his Web site. "I have 18 years of proven and principled conservative leadership and I proudly wear the scars of those battles... I led the fights for protecting freedom and liberty, respect for the Constitution, the preservation of the Second Amendment, the rights of the unborn, U.S. sovereignty, a strong national defense, cutting taxes and spending and reducing the size of government."

Conservative Democratic Rep. John Barrow has been a GOP target ever since his 2004 election to represent Georgia in the House - and 2010 will be no different.

Republican Carl Smith, chief of the Volunteer fire department in the small town of Thunderbolt, Ga., announced plans to challenge Barrow, according to the Morris News Service. Smith is the latest Republican to announce his candidacy in the 12th District race, but he does not enter as the favorite of party strategists.

Republicans actively recruited Army Col. Wayne Mosley, a surgeon who served in Afghanistan and Iraq and surgeon, to run against Barrow in 2010.