Rep. McCune rails against alleged Chopp conspiracy

Rep. Jim McCune, the 2nd District Republican from Graham, is telling supporters that he is the target of a ruthless left-wing attack spearheaded by Speaker of the House Frank Chopp (D-Seattle) according the TNT's Political Buzz. He calls Chopp's tactics " slashing" and "slanderous".

McCune, who says in a fundraising letter that he is one of two remaining Pierce County Republicans in the House, has three Democratic opponents in his race. They are Jean Marie Christiansen, who ran in 2006, former Orting Councilman Raymond Harper, and recent entry Chuck Collins, who the TNT reported was recruited by state Democrats and is likely the impetus for McCune's worries.

If he is correct about the attack, McCune should have sufficient funds to fight back. He raised almost $38,000 as of the end of April, and has spent just under $10,000 so far.

Here is the meat of McCune's fundraising plea:

I have been targeted by the ultra-liberal Democrat Speaker of the House Frank Chopp's (he hails from Capitol Hill) campaign machine for elimination. Frank Chopp runs typical slashing, slanderous attack campaigns, with vast sums of money pouring in from his interest groups. This political bulldozer is fueled by interest groups such as trial lawyers, environmentalists, tribal casino barons, and union bosses.

Combined, they account for hundreds of thousands of dollars put into the Speakers Roundtable, which are then used against good conservative candidates and incumbents. They've already been very effective, turning a Republican majority into a Democrat supermajority.
We are working very hard to hold our ground here, and we definitely don't want to be another name on the already long list of Republican legislators put out of a job by Franks bulldozer tactics.

When Frank Chopp says he s targeting someone, you can be sure he means business.