In GOP Races, It's NRSC Against DeMint
Jim DeMint is running for a second term this year representing South Carolina in the United States Senate. But his focus seems to be elsewhere, as the conservative senator campaigns not for himself, but for a handful of Republican candidates running in many cases against the hand-picked choice of his national party.
On Tuesday, the National Republican Senatorial Committee got its man in Indiana, as former Sen. Dan Coats won the Republican primary. Finishing a strong second was Marlin Stutzman, a state senator endorsed by DeMint.
"This was his first statewide race and he was opposed by the Washington establishment. Yet he exceeded all expectations with an unwavering commitment to conservative principles," DeMint said in a statement after the votes were counted.
Undeterred by the loss, DeMint made an even bigger play Wednesday. His Senate Conservatives Fund weighed in to an even more high profile race, picking ophthalmologist Rand Paul in the Kentucky Senate race rather than Secretary of State Trey Grayson, endorsed just the day before by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
It was a surprising move since just days earlier DeMint had signaled he wasn't interested in weighing in, saying he didn't want to antagonize his party's leader. That changed when McConnell made his support public.
"He's not a career politician and he's got the guts to stand up to the massive spending, bailouts, and debt that are being forced on us in Washington," DeMint said in announcing his backing. "Senator McConnell and I are on different sides in this race but I support him as our leader."
Though the NRSC won Tuesday, DeMint can argue he already had a victory of his own. DeMint was one of the first party leaders outside of Florida to endorse Marco Rubio over Charlie Crist in the Senate primary there. Only months later, when Rubio reversed a 30-point deficit did other Republicans join him in forcing Crist to abandon the race and run as an independent.
DeMint's Senate Conservatives Fund has endorsed four other candidates with contested GOP primaries, but only two of them are at odds with the national party. In Colorado, he's backing Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck instead of former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton. In California, he's endorsed Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, instead of former Rep. Tom Campbell or former HP CEO Carly Fiorina. His support is likely more likely to affect the result in Colorado.
DeMint can afford to play in these other races given that he faces only token opposition back home. Elected in 2004 in a contentious race against then-Education Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum, DemMint has since notched a reliably conservative record in the deeply red state. This election is his last for the Senate, since he's pledged to only serve two terms. But his advocacy for candidates outside the Palmetto State has some convinced his electoral career is not nearly through.