#NC-02: Tim D’Annunzio testing the waters?

big moneyOr at least someone appears to be doing it for him.  Phone polling was conducted yesterday throughout the Second Congressional District with a lot of questions mentioning the wealthy Hoke County businessman in connection with Renee Ellmers and other potential candidates in the US House Republican primary.

You may remember D’Annunzio from his run for the 8th district in 2010 (which featured a major tiff between him and then-NCGOP chairman Tom Fetzer), his run for the 4th in 2012, and his US Senate Libertarian primary run in 2014. In 2010, he lost a runoff to Harold Johnson.  In 2012, he was the GOP nominee against David Price.  In 2014, he lost the Libertarian nomination to Sean Haugh. 

I talked with a political pro who got called by the pollsters:td

”That was expensive.  You don’t commission something like that on a whim. D’Annunzio has a big fat wallet he can open up and dump into this race — making it even more interesting.  His bank account makes him someone to take very seriously in the Republican field for that seat.”

If he makes the leap, D’Annunzio would be the FIFTH candidate in the GOP field for the Second.  (We haven’t heard about any Democrats yet.)  Chatham County’s Jim Duncan, Ellmers, 2014 primary candidate Frank Roche, and conservative activist  Kay Daly are already signaling their interest in the race.