Club For Growth Noticeably Absent From Roster of Mourdock Supporters

By Kevin Brennan // October 28, 2011 | 3:55 p.m.
Updated: November 1, 2011 | 1:35 p.m.

As George Will noted recently, the Senate race in Indiana appears to present this cycle's best opportunity for conservative activists to take down an incumbent Republican senator in a primary. While Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, haven't attracted serious challenges from the right, Sen. Richard Lugar faces his toughest reelection battle in years in his GOP primary matchup against state Treasurer Richard Mourdock.

While many conservative leaders and organizations have voiced their support for Mourdock, one conservative group is conspicuously absent from his list of endorsements: the Club for Growth. In April, Club president Chris Chocola, who served alongside Lugar in Indiana's congressional delegation for four years as a House member, told ABC News he thought it was "probably best" if Lugar retire. Since then, the Club has spent money encouraging Lugar to do just that. In July, they released a television ad targeting Lugar and a poll showing Mourdock leading Lugar for the GOP nomination.

In addition to a collection of local Tea Party groups calling themselves Hoosiers for a Conservative Senate, Mourdock has received endorsements from FreedomWorks and the Tea Party Express, as well as the backing of the surprise frontrunner in recent polls in the GOP presidential primary, Herman Cain.

But despite a documented desire to see Lugar's six-term tenure come to an end and a willingness to spend money on the race, the Club hasn't officially made an endorsement. Club spokesman Barney Keller declined to discuss the Club's view of Mourdock, simply saying that the group is still looking at the race.

In an interview with Hotline on Call, Mourdock said he wasn't sure why the group hadn't endorsed him yet. But he acknowledged that his first meeting with the Club could have gone better.

"The first time I sat down with them, I had not declared my candidacy. I wasn't even sure I was going to be a candidate to be honest with you," Mourdock said. "And I sat down there and they started firing some questions at me, and it was like, whoa, where you going with this? And I think there was some confusion on their part as to whether I was ready because I wasn't ready for all their questions when I hadn't even decided I was going to be a candidate." Another potential stumbling block could be the poor fundraising numbers Mourdock has posted so far. In the fundraising quarter that ended last month, Mourdock brought in slightly less than $340,000. He made a personal loan of $100,000 to his campaign, but finished the quarter with just over $300,000 in the bank. Lugar, on the other hand, raised more than $800,000 over the same three months and has about $3.8 million on hand. But Mourdock said momentum will coalesce around his campaign as the primary grows near, allowing him to bring in more cash. While he doesn't expect to raise as much as Lugar, he said his campaign will have the financial support to compete. "A campaign like this always raises more money in the last 60 days than it raised up to that time," Mourdock said. "I am absolutely confident we're going to have the funds we need." Mourdock remains optimistic that his message of fiscal conservatism will resonate with Republican primary voters and carry him to victory. And he thinks Club for Growth will eventually be a part of the winning effort. "Am I confident that they're going to get in the race? Absolutely. Why? Because I'm the right candidate and Dick Lugar is the wrong candidate," Mourdock said. "This is the kind of race they were made for, and I think they'll be there."

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