Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R) has joined most Members in forming a leadership political action committee. The new organization, called the GOJO Political Action Committee, was just organized with the Federal Election Commission and will give Emerson another way to donate to Republican incumbents and candidates.

Leadership PACs are popular because Members can give more from those organizations than they can from their personal campaign committees.

Emerson is seeking a ninth term next year in Missouri’s 8th district, which includes Cape Girardeau and other territory in the southeastern part of the state. Tommy Sowers (D), an Army veteran of the Iraq War, has had early success raising money but faces very long odds as a Democratic challenger in a district where President Barack Obama won just 36 percent of the vote in the 2008 election.