Club for Growth pledges to defend Republicans who were critical of McCarthy in 2024: Report
Jack Birle
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The Club for Growth is looking to spend $20 million to help defend 20 Republican lawmakers who held out during the House speaker vote in January until GOP leadership made conservative concessions.
The “Patriot 20,” as the group calls them, will be defended against primary and general election challenges in 2024 using this fund, the organization said in a memo obtained by Politico.
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The group of 20 members of Congress includes Eli Crane (R-AZ), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), Byron Donalds (R-FL), Andrew Clyde (R-GA), Mary Miller (R-IL), Andy Harris (R-MD), Matt Rosendale (R-MT), Dan Bishop (R-NC), Josh Brecheen (R-OK), Scott Perry (R-PA), Ralph Norman (R-SC), Andy Ogles (R-TN), Keith Self (R-TX), Chip Roy (R-TX), Michael Cloud (R-TX), and Bob Good (R-VA).
The memo outlined two priorities for the primary elections for these 20 GOP lawmakers, with the first being a commitment to defending the five freshman members in the group. The second priority is to defend the 15 remaining members of the “Patriot 20,” with the memo outlining how the group “will not compromise” its defense of the incumbents in the primary.
“We are closely monitoring the reelection efforts of each conservative incumbent and will not hesitate to make independent expenditures to defeat moderate challengers. We will not compromise in our defense of these members,” the memo said.
For the general election, the Club for Growth memo discussed how Boebert, Luna, and Perry are being targeted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
“Our primary role in the general election will be to help level the playing field against the Democrats’ spending advantage. We will do this by making independent expenditures with respect to conservative candidates targeted by the DCCC,” the memo said.
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Boebert, who defeated her Democratic challenger by less than 600 votes last year, was out-fundraised by Democrat Adam Frisch by almost $2 million in the second quarter of 2023. Frisch raised $2.6 million compared to Boebert’s $818,000.
The House of Representatives is expected to be up for grabs in 2024 as the GOP aims to hold on to the slim majority it gained in 2022. Republicans were expecting to have a significant majority after the 2022 elections, but an underperformance in most of the country led to the GOP only having a 222-212 majority.