Mo Brooks ‘seriously considering’ Senate bid

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Republican Congressman Mo Brooks is close to mounting a run for the U.S. Senate later this year.

The four-term lawmaker from Alabama’s 5th Congressional District told AL.com Monday he is “seriously considering” a bid for the Senate seat now held by former Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange.

It was the first comment from Brooks regarding the Senate race after Gov. Kay Ivey rescheduled the special election — moving it up a year — to fill the vacancy created in February when Jeff Sessions resigned to become U.S. Attorney General.

May 17 is the qualifying deadline for candidates in the Aug. 15 party primaries. Brooks, a Huntsville native, told AL.com he will not announce his decision until just before the deadline.

“I have polling data, I have talked with various individuals to discuss how much money would be required to be competitive and whether there are available sources of money to be competitive,” Brooks said.

Brooks is the only member of the Alabama congressional delegation thinking about running for the Senate.

Reps. Robert Aderholt, Bradley Byrne, Gary Palmer, Martha Roby, Mike Rogers and Terri Sewell have each said they are not interested in the seat.

If he should enter the race, Brooks would bring a financial advantage that would immediately establish him as the leading candidate for the seat. Campaign finance reports from March 31 show Brooks with $1.2 million on hand. That war chest is more than that of any other Alabama House member, as well as interim Sen. Strange, who had raised about $763,000 so far.

“That’s one of the strong points,” Brooks said of his perspective candidacy. “I have almost half-a-million dollars’ cash on hand more so than the second-place person and more than $1 million cash-on-hand more than every other candidate – rumored or announced.”