Confirming weeks of speculation, Iraq War vet Eric Egland announced today that he will challenge corrupt Rep. John Doolitte in the 2008 Republican primary. Doolittle’s campaign team, however, is maintaining a “more the merrier” attitude:
Egland is the first to flatly declare for the Republican primary. Auburn City Councilman Mike Holmes also is exploring a primary run for Doolittle’s seat, and he said Monday he is moving closer to entering the race.Doolittle’s campaign consultant, Richard Temple, said the congressman is not worried, and welcomed the competition.
“In this case, the more candidates the better,” said Temple. He said that because the congressman has a strong base of support, multiple opponents will only divide the disenchanted.
“Neither of them can beat him,” Temple said.
Temple makes a strong point, and 4th district Republicans interested in retaining this seat in the red column would be best served to confine Doolittle to a head-to-head match up. (Holmes, as you may recall, collected less than 33% in the 2006 primary after spending just over $90,000 on the race.) Conversely, Blue Majority candidate Charlie Brown’s best shot is if a badly wounded Doolittle crawls out of a three or four-way primary with a barely active pulse… assuming that he hasn’t resigned in disgrace by that point.