Still mum on endorsement, McKelvey starts PAC

Jim McKelvey took the next step of his electoral career Thursday, launching a political action committee less than 48 hours after he came in second in the 5th Congressional District Republican primary.

McKelvey, a property developer and political novice, lost to state Sen. Robert Hurt in Tuesday's crowded and hard-fought contest to face freshman Rep. Tom Perriello (D) in November. While most of the other GOP hopefuls have announced their endorsements of Hurt, McKelvey hasn't commented beyond issuing a statement Tuesday saying, "I congratulate" Hurt on his victory. McKelvey's silence -- and his close relationship with Jeffrey Clark, an Independent running in the race as a conservative -- have raised questions about what he will be doing.

McKelvey said Thursday that he had filed paperwork to create "Take Our Country Back PAC" in order to "seek out, support, educate, train and elect conservative candidates on the local and state level in the fifth district and throughout Virginia. Our PAC will be seeking to find candidates who have never run for public office before, but who share our conservative values and desire to serve our country in its time of need."

McKelvey added that "[t]he purpose of this PAC is not to support career politicians," an epithet that he and some other candidates flung at Hurt frequently during the race.

As for cash, McKelvey said, "Today, I funded the PAC with my own money." It's not clear how much he actually put in, and his campaign had not returned a request for comment as of this posting. McKelvey gave more than $250,000 of his own money to his congressional campaign but did not demonstrate much ability to raise money from others, taking in just over $20,000 in contributions from outside donors.

McKelvey's release announcing the news included a supposed link to the new committee -- www.takeourcountrybackpac.com -- that does not appear to work.