A well-placed Republican insider with deep ties to Washington raised an eyebrow at the $8 million to $10 million figure Steve Levy has been said to cite in closed GOP citings as the offering coming down from the Republican Governors Association if he’s the nominee in the fall against Democrat Andrew Cuomo.
“This is not a state that’s in play” in 2012, the source said, questioning why the RGA would focus so many resources on a state that is unlikely to go Republican against President Obama in his re-election bid.
The RGA did indeed hold multiple meetings with Levy, and sources said they played a role in urging him to run, suggesting they would be supportive as he was weighing a run and before he jumped into the fray.
But the $8 million to $10 million figure would represent almost a third of their current cash on hand, and it’s hard to see that being given as a blanket promise – unless it was, say, October and the race between Levy and Cuomo was neck-and-neck.