Mandel Gets Boost from DeMint
CINCINNATI INQUIRERNovember 4, 2011
WASHINGTON - Republican Senate hopeful and Ohio State Treasurer Josh Mandel is getting a major fundraising assist from one of the country's most prominent conservatives - Sen. Jim DeMint, a rock-ribbed Republican from South Carolina who is reprising a controversial effort to elect like-minded GOP candidates to the Senate.
DeMint's political action committee, the Senate Conservatives Fund, has already donated the legal maximum - $10,000 - to Mandel's campaign. But that's just the beginning. DeMint's PAC has made $71,000 in independent expenditures to boost Mandel's campaign. And the PAC has raised another $175,000 for Mandel from other donors.
In all, DeMint's PAC can claim credit for more than $255,000 donated or spent on Mandel's campaign so far this election. It's just a fraction of the $3.8 million Mandel has raised since he filed for the Senate race in April, but there's more on the way.
The Senate Conservatives Fund has set a goal of raising at least $500,000 for Mandel, said Matt Hoskins, the Senate Conservatives Fund director. Hoskins added that he actually expects the PAC to raise twice that amount to help the Ohio Republican beat Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, in next year's election.
So why has DeMint taken such an interest in Mandel? And what does it mean for Ohio's U.S. Senate contest?
Brown, for one, shrugged off the effort by his Republican Senate colleague to oust him.
"I really haven't thought about it much. DeMint does what he does," Brown said. "That's his business."
DeMint is looking to play the role of tea party kingmaker, much as he did in the 2010 elections. The Senate Conservatives Fund's mission is to support conservatives DeMint views as ideologically pure — those who support small government, free-market principles, and lowering taxes.
"Sen. DeMint's not just looking to give someone his endorsement. He wants to work hard and raise money for them and help them get their message out and win the campaign," Hoskins said. "What he's looking for are exceptional candidates. True standouts. What he's looking to do through the Senate Conservatives Fund is to rally, unite and help lead grassroots conservatives all over the country and to work with them to focus on these standout candidates."
'We met and clicked'During the 2010 elections, DeMint helped to sideline mainstream Republicans in favor of tea party conservatives like Kentucky's Rand Paul, Utah's Mike Lee, Florida's Marco Rubio, and Pennsylvania's Pat Toomey - all of whom beat the Republican Party's picks on the way to winning their Senate races. Critics note that eight other candidates DeMint supported through his PAC - notably Christine O'Donnell in Delaware and Sharron Angle in Nevada - won GOP primaries but lost to Democrats in the general election, preventing Republicans from taking control of the Senate.
So far in this election, DeMint has only endorsed two Senate candidates - Mandel and Texas Republican Ted Cruz. But Hoskins said DeMint might eventually throw his weight behind as many as 10 conservative contenders.
Mandel said DeMint's political support and PAC donations have helped his campaign "snowball," attracting a second-look from other conservative donors and grassroots groups.
Mandel said he couldn't remember exactly how the endorsement came about — whether he solicited DeMint first or the senator's PAC staff contacted him - but the two men met in Washington earlier this year to talk about the Ohio race.
"We met and clicked and discussed a lot of the common policy ideas we have for bringing America into a place of fiscal health and prosperity," Mandel said. "Their support has been very helpful in building our war chest and continuing to develop a following of grassroots conservatives throughout Ohio and America."
Mandel said he now touts DeMint's support on the campaign trail, as a sort of seal-of-conservative-approval that's helped solidify and expand his base.
"When we're sending out emails or I speak to groups, I oftentimes mention the support of the Senate Conservatives Fund," he said. "I think people look to Sen. DeMint as a leader."
Hoskins said DeMint began meeting with Mandel in May and endorsed him in late June. DeMint's committee provides a variety of assistance to candidates he endorses - $10,000 directly to their campaigns ($5,000 each for the primary and general elections) and more in independent expenditures. In that latter category, for example, DeMint's PAC spent $21,458 in June to use an email list, campaign filings show. He made a similar $15,000 expenditure on Mandel's behalf in August.
Plus, DeMint's committee serves as a rich conduit of campaign cash for the candidates from other contributors. DeMint often makes special fundraising pitches on behalf of specific candidates, and his followers can make direct donations to DeMint-endorsed candidates through his committee website. Such appeals were instrumental in helping Mandel raise $175,000 in DeMint-generated donations, according to Hoskins.
'A conservative before I'm a Republican'The DeMint money is hardly the only outside funding flowing into the Ohio Senate contest. Mandel has also gotten donations from the Club for Growth and the Family Research Council's PACs, two other conservative groups, as well as an array of business interests, such as Exxon Mobile's PAC.
Brown has taken in more than $750,000 in PAC donations from a bevy of interest group PACs - including labor unions, health care representatives, lobbying firms and others.
But DeMint's national profile could bring extra attention to the Ohio contest.
John Green, a political scientist at the University of Akron, said that while it's not uncommon for a sitting senator to target an incumbent from the opposing party, that's normally done through the regular party committees, not an independent outfit. "Sen. DeMint is an example of is something that's fairly new - senators and other officeholders creating their own independent fundraising mechanisms to change the control of the body," Green said.
DeMint's role in the last election irked some in the Republican establishment. Mike Castle, a moderate Republican, had been considered a shoo-in for the Delaware Senate seat. But he lost in an upset to the DeMint-backed O'Donnell, who was then defeated in the general election by Democrat Chris Coons.
Castle said DeMint's effort to elect ideological conservatives could be "counterproductive" and noted that many of the candidates he supported in 2010 lost in the general election.
"The kinds of candidates he supports — if they are able to get elected - are probably going to be bearers of the gridlock," he said. "That's where they're coming from. They're coming from an ideological point of view."
Asked if DeMint's backing could hurt him with swing voters in Ohio who might not like DeMint's hard-line conservatism, Mandel said no. He said his own reputation as a strong conservative with crossover appeal to independents would be his main selling point across the state.
"I am proud to be an American and a conservative before I'm a Republican," he said. "And I will make decisions as I always have, in thinking first of what is best for my constituents."
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