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At least 10 GOP senators have signaled that they’d prefer to have former top Senate aide Katie Britt as their colleague instead of GOP Rep. Mo Brooks.
Britt and Brooks are facing off in a primary runoff in Alabama on Tuesday to replace retiring GOP Sen. Richard Shelby, Britt’s former boss. Shelby is among the group of senators who have endorsed or donated to Britt’s campaign through their leadership PACs.
This week Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., announced he was endorsing Britt in the race. And late last month Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., also backed Britt, and his leadership PAC donated to Britt’s campaign, according to campaign fundraising filings with the Federal Election Commission. A leadership PAC is separate from a lawmaker’s own campaign.
Aside from Cotton’s PAC donation, the other senators’ leadership PAC contributions came in June, August or December of 2021, after former President Donald Trump endorsed Brooks in the primary. Trump revoked his endorsement of Brooks back in March, and instead endorsed Britt earlier this month.
Britt had early support from multiple Republican women senators, including Susan Collins of Maine, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Joni Ernst of Iowa and Deb Fischer of Nebraska. Britt’s other Senate contributors included Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Mike Crapo of Idaho and Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma.
While the $5,000 PAC checks are a fraction of Britt’s nearly $7.5 million fundraising haul, they’re a show of support from multiple members of the Senate conference.
Brooks has not received any campaign contributions from leadership PACs of sitting senators, although Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul recently campaigned with Brooks. Paul’s campaign has also spent nearly $11,000 on radio ads since the May 24 primary to boost Brooks in the runoff, according to the ad tracking firm AdImpact.