The Club for Growth announced Friday that it is holding off on a potential Chris McDaniel endorsement after being an early supporter of his Senate campaign back in 2014.
David McIntosh, the group’s president and a former Indiana congressman, said Friday that the conservative organization is weighing its options this year but is not ready to support McDaniel after he jumped in the contest last week against Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss.
“We’ve been looking at that race,” McIntosh said on C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers” Friday afternoon, pointing to problems with McDaniel’s 2014 campaign he says they have talked to him about on a few occasions. “We’re still looking at it and considering it.”
The club was among several conservative groups that supported McDaniel when he challenged Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., in the Republican primary four years ago. This included FreedomWorks, the Senate Conservatives Fund, and the Madison Project. Thus far, none of the groups are backing McDaniel in his bid against Wicker.
“The other factor is Roger Wicker is frankly a much stronger incumbent than Thad Cochran, and Thad Cochran won,” McIntosh said. “So we’ve got to consider that versus spending our resources in some of these challenger race where the Republican has the lead.” Cochran is retiring on April 1.
McIntosh also pointed to the looming special election in November to replace Cochran and the uncertainty surrounding that contest. Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant has 10 days to name a replacement for Cochran after his retirement and is likely to tap someone who will run for the seat in November. He is not expected to tap McDaniel.
“A lot has yet to be seen in Mississippi. We’re waiting to see how it plays out,” McIntosh said.
The Club for Growth chief declined to name anyone he would like to see put in the seat out of respect for Bryant, though he allowed he was hoping for a conservative. In that case, he believes it would be tough for McDaniel to switch races without coming across as an “opportunistic” candidate.
“I think there are good conservatives he could pick for that, and at that point, Chris McDaniel — it would sort of look opportunistic, if it was another conservative running and you don’t see the real contrast,” McIntosh said.
The primary for Wicker’s seat is set for June 5.
