NH INSIDER

Establishment Candidate Kelly Ayotte has Already Chased Club for Growth Approval - Will She Sign Their Pledge to Repeal Coverage for 157,000 NH  Residents and Tax Credits for 16,800 NH Small Businesses?

Kelly Ayotte, for one, has already been down in Washington to court the extremist group's support as she races to the far-right wing of her party. After the meeting, Club for Growth Executive Director David Keating called her "a very impressive candidate" [Union Leader, 11/12/09].  Ayotte has also been chasing the endorsement of of uber-conservative Sen. Jim Demint, who is one of two candidates thus far to sign the Club's pledge. [Politico, 11/23/09]
 
"As part of her extreme-right makeover, Kelly Ayotte has been fighting against health care reform for New Hampshire's middle class families as she courts the endorsement of the Club for Growth," said Emily Browne, Press Secretary for the New Hampshire Democratic Party. "Will she and the other Republican candidates practice what they preach and sign on? Will they commit to spending their hypothetical senate careers taking away essential New Hampshire consumer protections like mammograms and ob/gyn care, coverage for 157,000 New Hampshire residents, and tax credits for 16,800 small businesses?"
 
The Club's pledge, released today, asks candidates to sign the following: "I hereby pledge to the people of my state/district to sponsor and support legislation to repeal any federal health care takeover passed in 2010, and replace it with real reforms that lower health care costs without growing government" [Repealit.org, 1/14/10].

Club spokesman Mike Connolly confirmed that the organization has met with Ayotte, is scheduled to meet with Binnie and is in the process of scheduling a meeting with Lamontagne.

Roll Call: New Hampshire: Lamontagne Gets In, as Club Eyes Senate Race

Shira Toeplitz

November 10, 2009

http://www.rollcall.com/issues/55_55/atr/40473-1.html?type=printer_friendly

The Club for Growth formally waded into the Florida Senate race on Monday, and the conservative anti-tax group may be looking to play in New Hampshire as well, where a fourth Republican just entered the race for retiring Sen. Judd Gregg’s (R) seat.

Ovide Lamontagne, a former GOP gubernatorial nominee, filed Monday to enter the 2010 Senate race, adding to an already crowded GOP primary field that features former state Attorney General Kelly Ayotte and businessmen William Binnie and Jim Bender. Republican National Committeeman Sean Mahoney is considering a bid as well. […]

Click on link above for full story.

Chocola said his mind is still open on Kelly Ayotte, the former New Hampshire Attorney General who is running for an open Senate seat next year in what’s shaping up to be a crowded primary.

“We don’t know yet.  She’s never been elected to anything so it’s hard to determine exactly where she stands on the issues,” he said of Ayotte.

ABC News: Club for Growth: Charlie Crist Could be Next Dede Scozzafava

Rick Klein

November 2, 2009

http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2009/11/club-for-growth-charlie-crist-could-be-next-dede-scozzafava.html

ABC News’ Rick Klein reports: With a conservative revolt pushing a Republican candidate out of a key House race in New York State, the head of the conservative group Club for Growth is warning that other Republicans could face similar fates in primary races next year -- and Gov. Charlie Crist, R-Fla., is at the top of that list.

Club for Growth president Chris Chocola said on ABCNews.com’s “Top Line” that Crist -- who’s running for an open Senate seat next year -- and other moderate Republicans can expect aggressive primary challenges.

The club is considering endorsing Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio in a tightening primary race against Crist, Chocola said.

“We’re seriously looking at it. We like Marco Rubio a lot. We think that Charlie Crist represents some of the same things that Dede Scozzafava represents,” said Chocola, a former Republican House member from Indiana.

“[Crist] clearly supported the Obama stimulus plan -- he traveled around the state supporting it. And so we’re seriously looking at it, and we’ll make a decision in the very near future.”

Crist has been endorsed by the National Republican Senatorial Committee. The party establishment offered similar support to Scozzafava in the race in New York’s 23rd congressional district, but the club joined other groups in rallying support for Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman in that race.

Scozzafava dropped out of the race on Saturday, and on Sunday she endorsed Democratic candidate Bill Owens.

Chocola said other candidates could also come under scrutiny from the right. Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., who’s running for the Senate next year, is “probably not” someone the club would support, he said.

Chocola said his mind is still open on Kelly Ayotte, the former New Hampshire Attorney General who is running for an open Senate seat next year in what’s shaping up to be a crowded primary.

“We don’t know yet.  She’s never been elected to anything so it’s hard to determine exactly where she stands on the issues,” he said of Ayotte.

It’s already been something of a banner year for the Club for Growth. Even before Hoffman’s emergence forced out Scozzafava, Sen. Arlen Specter was forced to become a Democrat because of the prospect of losing a GOP primary challenge to Pat Toomey, Chocola’s predecessor as the club’s president.

On the broad lessons of such races, Chocola said, “I think the American people like pro growth policies . . . Through the tea-party movement, through the town hall meetings we saw in August, there’s a clear message here. And if anybody doesn’t hear it I think they ignore it at their own peril.”

Candidates that don’t learn those lessons, he said, “could find themselves in the same position that Dede Scozzafava found herself.”

Chocola rejected the argument -- advanced by, among others, NRSC Chairman John Cornyn, R-Texas -- that Republicans need to find candidates whose politics closely match those of blue-leaning districts in order to win back majorities in Congress.

“I don’t know anybody sending in more taxes than they owe anywhere in the country,” he said. “I don’t think these races are about two parties. I think they’re about two places: inside Washington and outside Washington.”

Click HERE to see the full interview with Chris Chocola.

We also chatted with Adam Nagourney of The New York Times to get his take on tomorrow’s key races.

If Hoffman wins, Nagourney said, “I think you’ll see conservatives emboldened by this. I think you’ll see Republicans really take a second look and sort of bucking the conservatives on this. So I think they’ll be many, many, many more [primary] challenges. I think it could definitely be a problem for them,” Nagourney said.

Watch the discussion with Adam Nagourney HERE.

While the Florida primary will be the marquee intraparty battle for the GOP in 2010, Chocola said the Club for Growth is looking at getting involved in other races, including the contest to replace GOP Sen. Judd Gregg in New Hampshire.

"We're doing our research on that one," he said, but unlike in Florida, "we're not close to a decision there."

 http://www.nationaljournal.com/congressdaily/cda_20091029_7172.php

SENATE RACES

Club For Growth Eyes Underdog In Florida Contest

Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009

After seeing how its backing of Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman turns out in a Nov. 3 special election for the New York House seat previously held by Army Secretary John McHugh, the Club for Growth will turn its attention to the Florida Senate primary between GOP Gov. Charlie Crist and former state House Speaker Marco Rubio.

While Crist is the well-funded frontrunner, Rubio has started lapping up endorsements from national conservative leaders and groups in his upstart bid to become the GOP nominee in the race to succeed former GOP Sen. Mel Martinez, who resigned this fall.

Club for Growth President Chris Chocola said he expects the organization will decide whether to get involved in the race by the end of the year.

"It's no secret we like Rubio," Chocola said in an interview. "We're looking at the same FEC reports as everyone else."

Those reports showed Rubio bringing in more than $1 million in the third quarter, a surprisingly strong number for someone taking on a candidate who was supposed to be a lock for the nomination.

While the Club's backing would provide a boost for Rubio, several Republican operatives in Washington and Florida questioned whether the group has the financial capacity to wade into such a massive state with 10 media markets, especially since the Club is already supporting its former president, former GOP Rep. Pat Toomey, in the Pennsylvania Senate race.

One veteran Florida Republican said it would take an outside organization roughly $5 million to make an impact on a statewide race there.

At the end of September, the Club for Growth's PAC had just more than $420,000 on hand and spent at least $377,000 in October on behalf of Hoffman in the New York House race.

Club for Growth members bundled an additional $315,000 for Hoffman, according to the organization. "Our members have never been more enthusiastic," given the impact they've had on the House race, said Andy Roth, a Club for Growth spokesman. And, although Roth wasn't able to provide specifics, he said donations have rolled in this month and that the group has plenty of time ahead of the Aug. 24 Senate primary in Florida if it decides to get involved.

While Rubio waits for the Club for Growth's decision, his fundraising operation hasn't rested. Campaign aides say he has added about 1,000 new contributors in October since the last quarterly report was unveiled.

Crist, meanwhile, has put together the heftiest back-to-back fundraising quarters of any Senate candidate nationwide and still swamps the competition in a money battle. Party sources said Crist is also on the verge of adding some top staffers to his campaign.

While the Florida primary will be the marquee intraparty battle for the GOP in 2010, Chocola said the Club for Growth is looking at getting involved in other races, including the contest to replace GOP Sen. Judd Gregg in New Hampshire.

"We're doing our research on that one," he said, but unlike in Florida, "we're not close to a decision there."

by Erin McPike