Breaking News: Jim Bunning Fights Back, Reveals David Williams Owes Him $30,000 & Plans Suit Against Senate Republican Group.

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Bunning: ‘I would have a suit’ if Republicans recruit an opponent

Sen. Jim Bunning is vowing to fight back as his feud with Republican leadership over his 2010 re-election bid spills into the national political scene.

If Republican campaign organizations tried to recruit another candidate to run in Bunning’s stead, “I would have a suit against the (National Republican Senatorial Committee) if they did that,” Bunning told reporters on Tuesday. “In their bylaws, support of the incumbents is the only reason they exist.”

The 77-year-old senator says he’s repeatedly told Republican leadership that he plans on running in 2010 for a third term.

This week, specualtion about Bunning’s seat has focused on state Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, who on Monday wouldn’t rule out running for U.S. Senate. But Williams told reporters that he would be “less than candid” if he did not say “a lot of rank-and-file people” have called him about the race.

NRSC Chairman John Cornyn of Texas told The Washington Post on Monday that Williams’ meeting with organization officials last week was a “courtesy visit” and that the party “would back Bunning in a contested primary.”

“David Williams usually has the ability to make up his own mind,” Bunning said, adding the state lawmaker “owes me $30,000 and he said he’ll repay me. I was short in my FEC money and he asked me if I would help save two state senate seats… I told him if I did it I would have to have it replaced at the first of the year. So far he has not.”

The tension over financial and political support has simmered over the past few weeks as Bunning has faced mounting pressure from Republican leaders to reconsider his re-election bid. Bunning has complained that comments by fellow Kentuckian Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Cornyn questioning the junior senator’s re-election plans undermine his bid.

“I don’t believe anything Cornyn says… I’ve had miscommunications with John Cornyn from first week of this session,” Bunning said. “The NRSC never helped me last time and they’re probably not going to help me this time.

Bunning also drew attention this week for comments he made over the weekend about U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s health. Bunning apologized for those comments on Monday.

In the 2004 election cycle, Bunning eked out a narrow 1.4 percentage point victory against Democratic challenger Daniel Mongiardo, then a state senator from Eastern Kentucky and now the state’s lieutenant governor. During the 2004 campaign, Bunning said Mongiardo, an Italian-American, looked “like one of Saddam Hussein’s sons.”

Bunning later apologized for the statement, and the two may face off again in 2010. Along with Mongiardo, state Attorney General Jack Conway and state Auditor Crit Luallen have been mentioned as potential candidates on the Democratic side. U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler, D-Versailles, has not ruled out a run.