Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., picked up the support of a leading conservative senator on Monday in his bid to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Dan Coats.
“When you find a conservative champion like Marlin Stutzman, you have to take a stand,” said Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, in a statement.
Lee’s endorsement provides Stutzman a boost in a Republican primary fight with fellow Rep. Todd Young. And it will help Stutzman define the race as another of the establishment versus Tea Party fights that have played out in recent election cycles, but come in short supply this year.
Stutzman is famous in the Capitol for accusing House GOP leadership of tricking him into providing a key vote for a major year-end spending package in 2014. He joined an unsuccessful coup attempt against then-House Speaker John Boehner and joined the Freedom Caucus that eventually pushed Boehner out of power.
“Senator Lee will soon have another voice working to change the culture of corrupt politics in Washington,” Stutzman said.
The race has already turned contentious. Stutzman tried to have Young kicked off the ballot by challenging whether his rival had submitted the number of signatures required to qualify, but the State Election Commission deadlocked, and so Young was allowed to continue.
“Marlin Stutzman joined the Democrats in piling on,” Young told local press. “I’m trying to focus on the issues and why I’m running.”
Stutzman is readily attacking Young as a tool of GOP leadership, based on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s reported support for his rival. “Todd Young is going to vote ‘yes’ for Mitch McConnell, and Mitch McConnell knows that I voted against John Boehner,” he told CNN last week. “Todd Young is a yes-man.”
