Attorney Brian Rooney is filing the paperwork Friday to join the 2010 race for Michigan's 7th Congressional District seat. And he is seeking to join his brother, freshman Florida Republican Tom Rooney, in the House
Brian Rooney, an Iraq War veteran, is bidding to challenge incumbent Mark Schauer, a first-term Democrat. He plans to do a formal campaign launch next week, likely Thursday, in the 7th District city of Jackson, where his campaign will be headquartered. Then the following week, he'll head off on a tour around the southern Michigan district, which also includes the city of Battle Creek and suburbs of Ann Arbor.
But to get to a general election matchup against Schauer, Rooney would have to outrun former one-term Rep. Tim Walberg in the Republican primary. Real estate exec Marvin Carlson is also in the race and Bill Martin, CEO of the Michigan Association of Realtors, has expressed interest in the contest, as well. Walberg lost the 7th District seat to Schauer by 2 percentage points in 2008 and is seeking a rematch.
Schauer succeeded as painting Walberg as too conservative for the district in 2008. Walberg won a close 2006 election for the seat after ousting one-term Rep. Joe Schwarz, a much more moderate Republican, in that year's GOP primary.
But Rooney doesn't have a particularly centrist profile, either. He currently works for the Thomas More Law Center, a not-for-profit public interest law firm that seeks to be the conservative Christian counterbalance to the American Civil Liberties Union.
Rooney advisor Jason Roe said he thinks the Michigan district is ready for a fresh face. He told CQ Politics that Rooney will focus on a handful of key concerns, including national security issues, improving the health care system and the "reckless spending" coming out of Washington.
Brian and Tom Rooney are grandsons of Art Rooney, who founded and long owned the Pittsburgh Steelers football team. Their uncle, Dan Rooney, is the current chairman of the team and is now serving as U.S. ambassador to Ireland.
Schauer is vulnerable for the 2010 race simply because of the district's traditional Republican leanings. But he won't be caught off guard. The Democratic incumbent has already raised more $1 million for his campaign and ended September with more than $900,000 in cash on hand.
UPDATE: The Walberg campaign was quick to dub Rooney a "carpetbagger" for only recenty moving to the district. "We do not need a lawyer from Wayne County when we have Tim Walberg," Walberg supporter Mark Behnke, the mayor of Battle Creek, said in a statement released by the campaign.
CQ Politics rates the general election contest Leans Democratic.
To see how all of the 2010 House races are shaping up, check out the CQ Politics' election map.
![[RSS]](http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/templates/images/rss_icon.gif){kind=icon}
![[ARCHIVES]](http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/templates/images/archives_icon.png){kind=icon}
Post A Comment