MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - The Senate GOP campaign operation is discouraging challengers to Sen. Luther Strange in the August primary to fill the seat formerly held by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, according to a prominent Alabama Republican considering a run.
State Senate leader Del Marsh said Tuesday that he told the National Republican Senatorial Committee that it was wrong to treat a “hand-chosen” senator as an incumbent. Marsh said he met with the group on Friday as he mulls a run, but said they were discouraging challengers to Strange.
“I asked… that they let Alabama choose its senator,” Marsh said. “They said, ’Well, we’re protecting our incumbents.’ And I said well I don’t consider Governor Bentley’s hand chosen senator to be the incumbent. I think the people will choose that in an election cycle.”
Spokeswomen for the NRSC and for Strange could not immediately be reached for comment.
Strange was appointed to the Senate in February by Gov. Robert Bentley who resigned last month amid fallout from an alleged affair with a top staffer. Bentley had planned for a 2018 Senate election, but new governor, Kay Ivey, moved it up to this year, setting off what’s expected to be a four-month demolition derby among Alabama’s dominant Republicans.
Marsh had interviewed with Bentley for the Senate appointment that ultimately went to Strange.
As Senate president pro tempore, Marsh is arguably the most powerful Republican in state-level politics and has deep ties to the state’s business community. While he has not announced a decision on a Senate bid, Marsh hinted that he was leaning in that direction. He said he took the trip to Washington, D.C., to discuss the political landscape with the committee and has contacted firms about working on his potential campaign.
But they “backed away I guess from this influence from Washington,” Marsh said.
Three other Republicans have so far announced runs for the seat, including former Chief Justice Roy Moore who was suspended from his duties after he urged defiance of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage.
One Nation, a nonprofit arm of the Senate Leadership Fund to keep the Republican majority, launched a radio ad this month heralding Strange as a warrior for Trump’s agenda.
The other candidates, and potential candidates, have begun to try to position themselves as the anti-Washington challengers and paint Strange as the establishment contender even though he has been in office less than three months.
“I’ve been told pretty straightforward that a lot of money will be spent by Washington to ensure Luther Strange stays as Gov. Bentley’s picked senator,” Marsh said.
Moore’s communications director, Dean Young, said Moore’s campaign consultants quit his race on Friday. He declined to name them.
“Judge Moore is the establishment’s worst nightmare,” Young said.
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