Conservative heavyweights plot new path
The conservative Club for Growth is emerging as one of the most consequential groups within Republican politics — and a textbook example of the GOP's identity crisis in the post-Trump era.
Why it matters: The anti-tax group was closely aligned with former President Trump during his time in office despite his free-spending record. But the Club for Growth is now forging an independent path as a potential anti-Trump bulwark in the presidential race — while still championing establishment-bucking, MAGA-aligned candidates in Congress.
Context: It clashed with Trump last year in two high-profile Senate primaries in 2022, going up unsuccessfully against his endorsed primary picks in Ohio (J.D. Vance) and Pennsylvania (Mehmet Oz).
Club for Growth: Top conservative spenders plot new path after Trump (axios.com)
The conservative Club for Growth is emerging as one of the most consequential groups within Republican politics — and a textbook example of the GOP's identity crisis in the post-Trump era.
Why it matters: The anti-tax group was closely aligned with former President Trump during his time in office despite his free-spending record. But the Club for Growth is now forging an independent path as a potential anti-Trump bulwark in the presidential race — while still championing establishment-bucking, MAGA-aligned candidates in Congress.
Context: It clashed with Trump last year in two high-profile Senate primaries in 2022, going up unsuccessfully against his endorsed primary picks in Ohio (J.D. Vance) and Pennsylvania (Mehmet Oz).
- Since then, Club for Growth president David McIntosh and Trump haven't been on speaking terms.
- On the eve of Trump's 2024 campaign launch, it commissioned polling showing he would be vulnerable against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in a one-on-one presidential matchup.
- Of Trump, he said: "We like each other, but at this point, we’re just focused on different things."
- It was a major concession that helped McCarthy secure the House speakership and showcased the nonprofit's influence among the rebels: Of the 21 original McCarthy holdouts, 16 had received key backing from the group in a past competitive GOP primary, according to Cook Political Report.
- It also supports House Republicans who want to use the raising of the debt ceiling as leverage to slow government spending, giving it a powerful role in one of the defining fights of this Congress.
- It's endorsed Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), an outspoken Trump defender, and has already spent $16,000 in anti-Daniels advertising to dissuade him from running.
- If Daniels decides to run, the nonprofit's PAC has already budgeted around $10 million in an advertising blitz against him. "Club for Growth Action will spend eight figures or whatever it takes to get Banks elected," said Club for Growth spokesman Joe Kildea.
- The Club for Growth is a longtime champion of Rep. Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.), the first Republican to announce a campaign against Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). Mainstream Republican officials have been encouraging Gov. Jim Justice to run, given his prominent statewide profile and high approval ratings.
- "Jim Justice is more moderate than the Club for Growth would want to see in that race," said McIntosh.
- It is also an ally of Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.), who is mulling a campaign against Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.). Republican leaders would prefer a more electable alternative.
- "Matt Rosendale is a great candidate. He would be well positioned to challenge Tester if all the party gets behind him — and we’ll be playing a big part in making that happen," McIntosh said, noting that Rosendale hasn't decided whether to run.
- Rosendale was one of the final holdouts against McCarthy's speakership. He even resisted Trump's over-the-phone lobbying pitch for McCarthy, in one of the memorable photos immortalized during the House chaos.
- Rosendale, a Maryland native, already lost to Tester by three points in 2018. He won re-election in a safe GOP seat with 57% of the vote — five points behind Trump's 2020 performance in the district.
- Rosendale is one of the leading isolationists in the House. Last March, he was one of just three House Republicans to vote against a resolution in support of the people of Ukraine.
- "We’re now the largest independent super PAC on the Republican side. Our goals this cycle are to help a conservative become president of the United States, win several Senate races with good economic conservatives and help expand the GOP House majority with conservative Republicans," McIntosh said.
Club for Growth: Top conservative spenders plot new path after Trump (axios.com)