Elections

Club For Growth Endorses Cruz

Kerry Picket Political Reporter
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The Washington, D.C.-based free market organization Club for Growth announced it is endorsing Texas Sen. [crscore]Ted Cruz[/crscore] Wednesday night.

“Ted Cruz is the best free-market, pro-growth, limited-government candidate in the presidential race,” Club for Growth president David McIntosh said in a statement.

This is the first time the Club for Growth endorsed a candidate during a primary election.

“This year is different,” McIntosh said, “because there is a vast gulf between the two leading Republican candidates on matters of economic liberty. Their records make clear that Ted Cruz is a consistent conservative who will fight to shrink the federal footprint, while Donald Trump would seek to remake government in his desired image.”

The Club for Growth endorsed Cruz when he first ran for Senate in Texas in 2012. McIntosh said the group did not want to choose between Cruz and Florida Sen. [crscore]Marco Rubio[/crscore] during the 2016 GOP primary, but that the conservative movement needed to unite behind Cruz days after Rubio dropped out of the race.

Politico reports that the Club for Growth Action, the group’s super PAC, reported a spike in fundraising in February, as it rolled out negative ads against GOP front-runner Donald Trump.

Trump took aim at Club for Growth early on in his campaign, accusing the organization of asking for contributions from him and then attacking him when he didn’t give. Club for Growth disputed Trump’s claim.

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