The centrist Republican Main Street Partnership on Wednesday revealed the GOP Congressional primaries it will focus on this year.

To start, the list is relatively small, but Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), speaking on behalf of the group, said it might expand as more state primaries draw near.

A top priority for the moderates is to protect one of their own, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), against the more conservative Rep. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), who Davis acknowledged will give Specter quite a run in the April 27 primary.

“If Arlen gets knocked off, our chances of holding that seat are [minimal] in this environment,” Davis said, noting that Democratic Rep. Joe Hoeffel would have an easier time defeating Toomey than Specter in November.

Also in Pennsylvania, ophthalmologist Melissa Brown, who narrowly lost to Hoeffel in 2002, will have Main Street backing in the 13th district in her contest with state Rep. Ellen Bard and Al Taubenberger come April 27.

Brown has better name recognition in the 13th district and did so well last time that she deserves another bite at the apple, Davis said.

Rep. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) gets the group’s nod in the July 20 primary for the open Senate seat in the Peach State. In California’s 3rd district, the group hopes businesswoman Mary Ose will replace her retiring brother, Rep. Doug Ose (R).

In Kansas’ 3rd district, former Navy pilot Adam Taff can tout his moderate credentials as he tries to topple former Justice Department official Kris Kobach and state Rep. Patricia Barbieri-Lightner in the state’s Aug. 3 GOP primary. After watching Taff win a highly contested and ideological primary last cycle only to lose narrowly to Rep. Dennis Moore (D), the group hopes its backing will propel him into Congress this year.

The partnership is also solidly behind Rep. George Nethercutt (R-Wash.) in his primary against former King County Republican Chairman Reed Davis. Moderates would like to see Nethercutt topple Sen. Patty Murray (D) in the general election.

The group has also chosen sides in Michigan’s open 7th district seat, where lawyer Brad Smith hopes to succeed his retiring father, Rep. Nick Smith (R). But the moderate partnership has designs on another candidate, former state Sen. Joe Schwarz, in the six-way Aug. 3 primary.

The group is also “monitoring,” though it has yet to decide whether to endorse, candidates in primaries in Texas’s 17th district, Oregon’s 1st and 5th districts and Florida’s 14th district, Davis said.

All of the candidates can expect financial help from the group’s political action committee.

A good barometer for the group’s intervention is whether the conservative Club for Growth gets into the game, Davis said.

“When the Club for Growth gets in, my antenna goes up and I wonder if there’s anyone better to get in,” Davis said, noting that he was speaking for himself and not the Main Street Partnership.

— Nicole Duran