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Club for Growth Action Monday hinted at its plans to get involved in the 2024 Senate races at the outset of a challenging cycle for Democrats, who have to defend 23 seats (including multiple battleground states), while the GOP must defend just 10 seats.
The conservative group hinted it will likely wade into the Montana Senate race, backing GOP Congressman Rep. Matt Rosendale if he chooses to run, and the West Virginia Senate race, where the GOP winner could face Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin if he decides to pursue a re-election bid, Club President David McIntosh told a small group of reporters Monday night.
“We see those as really strong opportunities to flip from Democrat to Republican,” McIntosh said.
In West Virginia, McIntosh name checked two Republicans, Attorney General Patrick Morrissey and Rep. Alex Mooney, as possible candidates. Mooney has already announced his bid and Morrissey could run again after he fell short against Manchin as the party's 2018 nominee.
Of Rosendale, another unsuccessful 2018 nominee who could run again (against Democratic Sen. Jon Tester), McIntosh said, “we know his record. We like what he did in terms of the Speaker’s selection process.”
McIntosh added that The Club is also watching what happens in Michigan, where the GOP field is still taking shape after long-time Michigan Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow announced her retirement. McIntosh, however, acknowledged that the state is “hard for Republicans, but we’ll take a look and see who’s running there.”
In Arizona, where now-Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has yet to share her 2024 plans, McIntosh made clear that there is one GOP candidate the group will not support — 2022 gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake, who continues to cast doubt on the 2022 and 2020 elections despite her loss.
“If Kari Lake were the candidate, we’d probably stay out of the race,” he said. “She doesn’t need us. She’s not really, as far as I can tell, an economic conservative.”
The conservative group has already announced its endorsement of Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), who is running to replace retiring Republican Sen. Mike Braun in Indiana.