1994 Newt Revo

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Control the GOP Congress. The tobacco industry played a crucial role in the "Republican revolution." As Peter H. Stone reports, campaign contributions and a revolving door of operatives— working jointly for tobacco and for key Congress members—have locked the industry and the top Republican leadership in a tight embrace (see <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/1996/05/nicotine-network">The Nicotine Network</a> [3]). For instance, Stone relates how Majority Whip Tom DeLay has put a tobacco operative in charge of his main political organization, ARMPAC.  mojo 1996
=the RGA's backing, the GOP netted seven governor's seats in the 1986 election.
In 1994, while Newt Gingrich and Co. took control [9] of Congress and rang in the Republican Revolution, the RGA was instrumental in the election of 11 GOP governors and successfully defended every Republican incumbent. When the dust settled, Republicans controlled 30 governorships, their first majority since 1970. The last time Republicans had performed so well in gubernatorial races was 1867.
Beyond its electoral victories, the RGA established itself as a launching pad for Republicans with presidential aspirations. The group helped to foster alliances between GOP governors and gave them access to deep-pocketed donors and top fundraisers, helping to catapult politicians like Ronald Reagan (an RGA chairman), George W. Bush, Rick Perry (twice chairman), Mitt Romney (2006 chairman), and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie [10] (current vice chair) onto the national stage. The RGA's rise has been fueled by a close alliance with corporate America—especially tobacco companies and Big Pharma. In the mid-'90s, the organization awarded seats on its board to executives from Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds, which each donated $40,000 a year. In November 1995, tobacco lobbyists swarmed the RGA's annual meeting in Nashua, New Hampshire, pressing governors to write letters opposing pending tobacco regulations from the Food and Drug Administration. In exchange for their support, the tobacco companies pledged financial backing when election time rolled around. They came through: In February 1996, Philip Morris held a Washington, DC, gala for the RGA that raised $2.6 million.
The increasing influence of corporate donors turned off some Republican governors, including Arne Carlson, Minnesota's governor from 1991 to 1999. Carlson recalls attending a few RGA meetings, but he stopped going due to the group's increasingly partisan tenor and insistence that donors be given access to the governors. "It was no longer Republican governors getting together," Carlson says. "It was the moneyed interests getting together with governors. I found it detestable."....=