Boehner to support Brooks in Rochester
By: Mark Gruba
Updated: August 3, 2012
Boehner will speak during a sold out fundraiser which begins at noon at the Riverside Convention Center.
The Speaker is the country's highest ranking Republican. Monroe County GOP Chairman Bill Reilich said Thursday evening that his visit is an indicator of how badly Republicans want Brooks to beat Democratic incumbent Louise Slaughter in November. "The national spotlight was on this race and this is one more sign of it," he said.
Reilich noted there are 241 Republicans in the House of Representatives and that Speaker Boehner only plans on making a half dozen or so campaign stops. "It's an important District, it's an important seat, it's an important win for the Republican party," he said.
Slaughter's campaign was quick to criticize the Speaker's visit. In a statement, spokesman Eric Walker said, "Republican Speaker John Boehner has spent his entire career protecting tax cuts for millionaires at the expense of the middle class, and now he's in town raising campaign cash for Maggie Brooks, who would be an obedient foot soldier for the Republican's out-of-touch, anti-middle class agenda."
There are roughly 40,000 more Democrats than Republicans registered in the new 25th Congressional District, which is located entirely in Monroe County. Brooks has run five county-wide races and won them all. The GOP is sending help to try to make it six. "Maggie has done an outstanding job, a very impressive job so far with getting out and meeting the people, her fundraising efforts, all measures of a campaign, she's hit a home run on all of them and the fact that it's brought national attention so there's going to be a tremendous amount of support, so we'll see down the road who else may be coming," said Reilich.
Brooks' campaign manager Noah Lebowitz wouldn't speculate on how much money Boehner will help bring in Saturday.
The Washington Post reported Thursday the House Majority Super PAC, a group backing Democrats in races across the country, has placed a $255,000 media buy for Slaughter in Rochester.


