After his first re-election campaign in 1992, Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R) made it a point to no longer accept money from political action committees. But now facing the toughest primary challenge of his career, Gilchrest, one of the House’s most moderate Republicans, has reversed course.

Gilchrest’s campaign spokesman told an Eastern Shore newspaper this week that Gilchrest was forced into the move because groups like the powerful Club for Growth are tipping the financial scales too heavily against the Congressman in their support for his challenger, state Sen. Andrew Harris (R).

The spokesman told The Daily Times of Delmarva that Gilchrest would rather not accept PAC funding but “after the last finance report, when we realized the Club for Growth was going to dump hundreds of thousands of dollars into this race, it wouldn’t be a fair fight. … We have to fundraise as aggressively as Andy Harris.” A third candidate in the race, state Sen. E.J. Pipkin (R), is personally wealthy.

— John McArdle