Wilson: Conservative group may cost GOP the NM senate seat
By Matthew Reichbach
09/19/2008
| 2 Comments
Rep. Heather Wilson lost the Republican Senate primary to Rep. Steve Pearce in June.
One contributing factor was the hundreds of thousands of dollars that Club for Growth put into advertising for Pearce and against Wilson. Pearce now faces Rep. Tom Udall in the general election for a U.S. Senate seat.
According to CQ Politics, Wilson blames the conservative group for her loss -- and possible loss in the general election for Pearce.
One ad tried to link Wilson to Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif. — not a flattering cohort for a Republican — because all three supported a children’s health-insurance program. Another ad said Wilson voted to raise taxes and supported “dozens of wasteful pork projects.”
Wilson called the ads “a huge factor” in her narrow loss to Pearce, who now faces Democratic Rep. Tom Udall in the general election. “If we lose that Senate seat, Republicans in the Senate are going to have the Club for Growth to blame,” Wilson said.
In other words, Wilson is not only blaming Club for Growth for her narrow loss in the Senate primary, she is also saying she would defeat Udall while Pearce looks to be a decided underdog against Udall. The latest polling shows Udall up by 15 points.
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© 2008 The New Mexico Independent
Comments:
Posted 09/19/2008 08:33 with
Heather Wilson would have been a much better candidate!
Posted 09/19/2008 09:29 with
I’m not sure Wilson is totally correct, but no matter what, I guess those of us who support Udall should write thank-you notes to the “Club for Growth.”
As an aside, doesn’t that org’s name strike you as odd? I thought Republicans, true conservative (in the former meaning before the Religious Right hijacked it) wanted small government?