Club for Growth no longer sold on Rosendale in Montana Senate race

The Club for Growth could avoid a bruising primary with national Republicans in Montana next year after meeting with Tim Sheehy, the establishment pick to challenge Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT).

The conservative group signaled for months it would support Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT), a member of the House Freedom Caucus who is preparing for a rematch after losing to Tester in 2018. Yet Club for Growth President David McIntosh appeared to backtrack on that support Monday evening, telling reporters at a briefing that his organization was undecided.

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“Matt has not yet decided whether to run. If he does, we’re going to take a close look at that race and figure out what the best answer is,” McIntosh said.

“We’re still in the process of deciding, and we’ll have to continue to do that,” he added.

If the group chooses to back Sheehy, who announced a Senate run last month, or stay neutral, it could spare the National Republican Senatorial Committee an expensive primary. Club for Growth has deep pockets and no qualms about spending upward of $10 million opposing establishment picks it considers insufficiently conservative. Rosendale himself is considered a meager fundraiser.

The NRSC, under the chairmanship of Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), has taken an active role in recruiting Senate candidates this cycle after party leaders blamed his predecessor’s hands-off approach for Republicans’ poor showing in the midterm elections.

So far, that has put the campaign arm on a collision course with McIntosh in West Virginia, where Club for Growth is backing the Senate run of another Freedom Caucus member, Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV). The NRSC is supporting Gov. Jim Justice (R-WV).

McIntosh heaped praise on Rosendale at the briefing, calling him a “real strong movement conservative” who appeals to the grassroots in the state. But he said voters may resonate with Sheehy’s biography and view him as an “attractive leader.”

Sheehy has no past political experience, but his ability to self-fund — he’s a wealthy entrepreneur — and background as a former Navy SEAL made him a top recruit for Daines.

Establishment Republicans fear Rosendale, on the other hand, is not electable after he lost to Tester by roughly 3 points in their last matchup.

Rosendale is one of the conservative holdouts who denied Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) the speakership for 15 rounds in January, a group of House lawmakers Club for Growth refers to as the “Patriot 20.”

It committed on Monday to spending $20 million to protect those members, especially in the primary as “moderate donor networks” consider whether to challenge more vulnerable holdouts.

Rosendale comfortably won a second term in Montana’s 2nd Congressional District last year.

“Matt’s somebody we supported last time around. We think enormously of him,” McIntosh said. “He’s one of the 20, we’re proud of what he’s doing in the House.”

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McIntosh named three Senate candidates Club for Growth is backing so far: Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), Mooney in West Virginia, and Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), the former NRSC chairman.

The group decided not to wade into what will be a contentious GOP primary in Ohio after interviewing Trump loyalist Bernie Moreno and Secretary of State Frank LaRose. The Club for Growth’s favored pick, Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH), passed on a Senate run earlier this year.