After Hectic County Convention, Northup's Primary Opposition May Revive Campaign

Mark Hebert reports Louisville developer Chris Thieneman may jump back into the race for the GOP nomination for Kentucky's 3rd district U.S. House seat - currently held by Democrat John Yarmuth.

Thieneman drew ire from some within the JCGOP after he quit the 3rd district race at the end of January. He claimed he was pressured to drop out by Senator Mitch McConnell and Yarmuth's predecessor/current GOP nomination frontrunner Anne Northup. Thieneman subsequently endorsed Yarmuth, but now says he never officially filed the necessary paper work for withdrawal from the race and may revive his campaign.

The news comes on the heels of Thieneman being forcibly removed from a meeting at this weekend's Jefferson County Republican (JCGOP) Convention in Louisville. Among the JCGOP, in-fighting between "old guard" conservatives and the party's libertarian wing has led to a heated race for the county party Chair. The Louisville Courier-Journal reports Thieneman was stripped of his seat on the nominating committee for that office because of his initial endorsement of Yarmuth. When Thieneman tried to attend that committee's meeting on Saturday, he was escorted away by a police officer.

Following this incident and the prodding of his supporters, Thieneman said he would consider reviving his campaign.

After Thieneman was removed, the JCGOP nominating committee voted to put members on JCGOP's executive committee seen as favoring Chairmanship candidate Brad Cummings, in opposition to the libertarian-supported Craig Maffet.