Andrew Saul - Political Involvement

Political Involvement

Saul was a Bush pioneer in 2000 and 2004, raising over $100,000 for the Bush-Cheney campaign, and has contributed to numerous Republican candidates and served on the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Along with Bill Kristol and Peggy Noonan, Saul is a trustee of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, a prominent conservative think-tank which promotes limited government and free-market principles whose mission is to "develop and disseminate new ideas that foster greater economic choice and individual responsibility" and has hosted policy speeches by then-National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice in 2002 and both President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney in 2006. His daughter, Jennifer Saul Yaffa, is the National Committeewoman of the Republican National Committee from the New York Republican State Committee. She is also head of the Manhattan GOP.

In 2007, Saul was for several months a candidate for the Republican nomination to run against U.S. Representative John Hall in the 2008 election. Saul had been eyeing the seat for New York's 19th congressional district since 1993, when Sue Kelly won a crowded primary. She won the seat and held it until being defeated by Hall in 2006.

Saul's 2007 campaign began well when he raised more money than Hall in the second quarter of 2007, although Hall had more total money on hand. A spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee described Saul as a "top recruit". Another Republican candidate, Iraq War veteran Kieran Lalor, criticized Saul as being too liberal, saying he was "Sue Kelly all over again".

On November 20, 2007, Saul announced that he was dropping out of the race because of unspecified "personal reasons".