Mo Brooks blames Donald Trump robocall for special election loss
Republican U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks gave onlookers a window into his election autopsy via text after falling short in the Tuesday primary for Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ Senate seat. Brooks earned a little under 20 percent in the special primary, which put him in third place behind former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore and sitting Sen. Luther Strange, who will face off in a Sept. 26 runoff election ahead of the Dec. 12 general. The House Freedom Caucus member texted journalists, lawmakers and GOP officials Wednesday with claims that his internal poll numbers showed him surging in front of Strange, who was appointed to the seat earlier this year by disgraced former Gov. Robert Bentley. He said President Donald Trump’s endorsement gave the former Alabama Attorney General a boost, but heading into the weekend before Election Day Strange’s lead had diminished to 2 or 3 points in his and other polls. He credits a robocall featuring a recording of Trump for turning the tide in the final 48 hours. “Over the weekend we caught back up. Then, on Monday and Tuesday, voters started getting a personal robocall from the President urging them to support LS. You can imagine the impact on a rural or elderly voter to hear PDJT calling! That final phone call caused LS to surge past us,” he wrote. Of course, Brooks said attack ads against him played a role, but maybe not in the way the Mitch McConnell-backed Senate Leadership Fund hoped. “Also, the nonstop LS/[Mitch McConnell] attack ads pushed anti-LS voters from me to [Roy Moore]. Hence, the final result. In the 5th Congressional District, we won 42 percent to 29 percent RM to 28 percent LS,” he added. McConnell’s political committee had spent more than $3.5 million on the race by the end of July, with much of that money being poured into ads attacking Brooks for not being supportive enough of Trump, who enjoys an 85 percent approval rating among Yellowhammer State Republicans. “An interesting note,” Brooks wrote in closing. “68% of Alabama GOP Primary voters rejected PDJT’s endorsement and voted against LS. Not yet sure what the national implications of that might be but we will find out.” Whis his Senate hopes dashed, Brooks announced that he will seek a fifth term in CD 5 next year. He has so far declined to endorse Moore or Strange in the Senate race.
Senate Leadership Fund predicts Luther Strange will make Senate runoff
The Senate Leadership Fund, a political committee controlled by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, tooted its own horn in an email sent out Tuesday. “In case you missed it, Senate Leadership Fund President and CEO Steven Law appeared on Fox News Channel this morning, where he predicted Sen. Luther Strange will make the runoff in the Alabama Senate race, citing the endorsement by President [Donald] Trump of Sen. Strange and the support of the Senate Leadership Fund,” the email said. The group included a link to a YouTube video of Law’s appearance on the 24-hour news network. The former Deputy Secretary of Labor under President George W. Bush played up the importance of Trump’s endorsement, which came late in the special primary race, and also credited the Senate Leadership Fund for raising Strange’s standing in the polls. Law also predicted Strange would make into the runoff election. The political committee has dumped millions of dollars into the race, with much of it being used to run ads attacking U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks for not being supportive enough of Trump. Alabama voters head to the polls today to vote on the GOP nominee for senate seat, which was vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions earlier this year. All signs point toward the state needing to go through with a Sept. 26 runoff election to determine the nominee. Strange and former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore are the likely to be the two candidates included in that race, though it is possible Brooks could take one of the two spots. Recent polls show Moore in the first place spot with 31 percent support, followed by Strange at 23 percent and Brooks at 18 percent. The general election will be held Dec. 12.
Super PAC backing Luther Strange spent $1.2M this week
Committee cash is continuing to pour into support for Luther Strange a week out from the special primary election for Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ former senate seat, while his rivals have seen their funding slow to a trickle. Strange and his allies have been able to pump more money into the special primary election than any other Republican, and a political committee controlled by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell cemented that this week by shelling out more than $1.2 million opposing fellow primary candidates U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks and former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore. The Senate Leadership Fund went all out, picking up online advertising and paying for TV and radio ad production in opposition of Brooks and Moore. On Tuesday alone, the committee spent $286,531 slamming Brooks and $342,927 against Moore. Unprocessed FEC records show Tuesday’s cash dump was followed up with another $650,000 in spending on Wednesday, with $500,000 of that money used to oppose Moore, who is Strange’s closest competitor in recent polls. To date, McConnell’s committee has spent a whopping $3.3 million against Brooks and $1 million against Moore. Outside money supporting Brooks clocks in at just $45,123 for the week, all of which came from the Senate Conservatives Fund, a committee founded by former South Carolina Republican U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint. Outside support for Moore was even more anemic. Through the entire election cycle, FEC data shows just $36,315 in independent expenditures backing the former justice. Despite the lopsided spending, a recent poll shows Moore with a 31-29 lead over Strange in the nine-way primary race. The same poll showed Brooks with 18 percent support, followed by state Sen. Trip Pittman with 8 percent and Alabama Christian Coalition president Randy Brinson with 2 percent. Eleven percent were undecided. Unless one of the candidates can secure a majority of the vote in the Aug. 15 primary, Alabamians will have to decide between the top two vote-getters in a Sept. 26 runoff. The general election is slated for December 12.
Senate Leadership Fund email slams Mo Brooks for Tuesday radio interview
It looks like Senate candidate and U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks isn’t being ignored by his Republican Primary opponents just yet. A super PAC controlled by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell again attacked Brooks in a Tuesday email, just one week before Alabamians are set to vote on the GOP nominee to replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions in the senate. “Career Congressman Mo Brooks has been in the Washington swamp for so long that he’s looking down at Alabamans (sic) as ignorant rubes,” the Senate Leadership Fund email said. “Brooks called Alabama voters ‘relatively uninformed’ and ‘easy to deceive’ this morning on The Dale Jackson Show. “ The email continued along similar lines that the political committee and its preferred candidate, sitting Sen. Luther Strange, have leveled against the CD 5 Republican for weeks: He isn’t supportive enough of President Donald Trump. “Was Brooks trying to target ‘easy to deceive’ Alabama voters when he tried passing a check written to the Alabama GOP as a check written to Donald Trump? Did he think Alabama voters were ‘relatively uninformed’ when he claimed to support Donald Trump’s border wall despite originally opposing it and taking free trips to China funded by NYC pro-amnesty groups? Is that why he tried telling Alabama voters he voted with Trump on ‘every single’ bill despite having the 10th lowest percentage of voting with President Trump of any Republican Member of Congress?” The email then links to a recording of Brooks radio appearance on YouTube. During the segment, Brooks and host Dale Jackson discussed the “never Trump” attacks on his senate campaign, to which Jackson said, “I don’t understand why that attack seems to be making sense.” “While a lot of people are relatively uninformed, they don’t know the truth, they’re easy to deceive, the party regulars — people who have been through this before — who take a little bit more time to get beyond the 30-second ad and actually do the research to try to determine who’s telling the truth and who’s not, they’re not being deceived at all,” Brooks responded. Brooks and Strange are running in a crowded special Republican Primary for Sessions’ old seat, with former Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore rounding out the top tier of candidates. Strange and Moore are jockeying for the top spot in the nine-way race, with a recent poll showing Moore with 31-29 lead over Strage. The same poll showed Brooks with 18 percent support, followed by state Sen. Trip Pittman with 8 percent and Alabama Christian Coalition president Randy Brinson with 2 percent. Eleven percent were undecided. Unless one of the candidates can secure a majority of the vote in the Aug. 15 primary, Alabamians will have to decide between the top two vote getters in a Sept. 26 runoff. The general election is slated for December 12.
Mo Brooks gets ‘worst sign of all’ in Senate primary – ignored by opponents
As Oscar Wilde once said, “There’s only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” Struggling for relevance in next week’s Alabama GOP Senate primary, Congressman Mo Brooks is beginning to appreciate what Wilde was saying. After a month of battling criticism from supporters of sitting Sen. Luther Strange, the Huntsville Republican is receiving what POLITICO reporter Daniel Strauss calls the “worst sign of all” … attacks against him are beginning to slow down. Strange and the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC connected to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, are now turning most of their negative advertising to attack former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore in advance of Tuesday’s primary. It is a clear sign that Brooks’ “outspent, insurgent campaign” may have stalled against candidates with better name recognition. “I’ve seen a number of polls, and every poll I’ve seen has Luther leading Roy Moore by between 3 and 5 points. Mo at one time was up to about 20 [percent],” Perry Hooper, former co-chairman of the Alabama Trump campaign (and a Strange supporter) told POLITICO. “The last I’ve seen has him at 15, 16 [percent]. I guess anything can happen, but the trend looks like people like what Luther has been doing.” Indeed, the Montgomery Advertiser reported Friday on a most recent poll of 426 likely Republican voters, with Moore hanging onto a narrow lead over Strange, 31 percent to 29 percent. The race for first place was within the poll’s 5 percent margin of error. Brooks came in third at 18 percent; state Sen. Trip Pittman of Baldwin County received 8 percent, and Alabama Christian Coalition president Randy Brinson took 2 percent. Eleven percent are undecided. Other Republican candidates on the ballot include Dr. James Beretta, Joseph Breault, Mary Maxwell and Bryan Peeples. The race will most likely result in a Sept. 26 runoff between the two top vote-getters, since it appears that neither Strange nor Moore will receive a majority. The last day for Alabama voters to apply for an absentee ballot for the primary is Thursday.
New SLF ad attacks Mo Brooks on Donald Trump, war funding
With about two weeks before the Alabama U.S. Senate Republican primary, Mo Brooks is once again on the receiving end of a new attack ad from the Senate Leadership Fund. First reported by POLITICO, “’Back’ Al,” which launched last week, features several direct-to-camera interviews of Alabamians attacking Brooks, the Huntsville Republican congressman seeking Jeff Sessions’ old Senate seat. “Mo Brooks said we can’t trust Donald Trump,” a woman says in the ad opening. “You know what I don’t trust? Career politicians like Mo Brooks.” The 30-second spot touches on Brooks’ votes against continuing resolutions by featuring military veterans accusing Brooks of “voting to cut off funding to fight ISIS.” A second veteran says: “We fought for our freedom … Brooks, he fought to cut off funding.” “Mo Brooks didn’t have my back, and he won’t be getting my vote,” another veteran says. Watch the ad here on YouTube. Brooks, former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore and sitting Sen. Luther Strange are part of the 9-person field running in the midsummer Republican U.S. Senate primary. Senate Leadership Fund, the group behind the ad, is a political committee controlled by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. SLF is strongly backing Strange in the Senate race. For his part, Moore — a member of the House Freedom Caucus — has returned the criticism. During a recent breakfast event hosted by the Heritage Foundation, Brooks called for the leader’s ouster as “head of the swamp.” “Inside the Republican conference, Mitch McConnell’s got to go,” Brooks said. “Absolutely, he is the head of the swamp in the United States Senate.” New WBRC polling puts the race at a statistical tie between Moore and Strange. Strange received 35 percent of “likely” registered voters, with Moore getting 33 percent. Brooks took 16 percent. Alabama voters have until Aug. 10 to apply for an absentee ballot for the Aug. 15 primary. If there is no winner — with 50 percent plus one of the vote — a runoff is Sept. 26; the general election is Dec. 12.
Luther Strange takes aim at Mo Brooks in leadup to Senate primary
Three weeks out from the special Republican primary for the remainder of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ Senate term, sitting U.S. Sen. Luther Strange has his sights set on U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks. The two Republicans, alongside former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore, are in the top tier of candidates running for the seat and Moore looks to have carved out solid support from about 31 percent of Republicans according to a recent poll. In the same poll, Strange was second place at 23 percent support, followed by Brooks at 21 percent. The other GOP candidates in the race all came in below 5 percent. Given the large pool of Republicans running for the seat, no candidate is likely to win the Aug. 15 primary outright, which pits Strange and Brooks in a race for the No. 2 slot and a place in the Sept. 26 runoff to decide which GOP candidate is on the general election ballot. Strange and his allies have come after Brooks in attack ads labeling the CD 5 Republican as a flip-flopper who is not resolute in supporting President Donald Trump, who has 55 percent support among Alabama voters according to a recent Gallup Poll. One recent ad put out by the Senate Leadership Fund, a political committee controlled by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that is backing Strange, tries to tie Brooks, a House Freedom Caucus member, to liberal lawmakers such as Massachusetts U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. “They all attack Donald Trump, trying to stop him,” the ad narrator says of Brooks and the congressional Democrats, before playing a clip of Brooks saying: “I don’t think you can trust Donald Trump with anything he says.” The ad also blasts Brooks for not endorsing Trump after he became the Republican presidential nominee last year. At the time, Brooks did say he would “vote for all Republicans on the ballot,” and called Trump “a better option than Hillary Clinton.”
Senate Leadership Fund: Mo Brooks ‘lies again’ about ‘100 percent’ support of Trump’s agenda
Mo Brooks is lying once again about his “100 percent” support for President Donald Trump, says the leading Senate Republican organization. Senate Leadership Fund, the super PAC linked to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, is accusing the Huntsville Republican congressman and U.S. Senate candidate of once again “falsely” stating he voted “down the line” on bills supported by Trump. SLF offers a clip of Brooks telling WVNN radio July 21: “Out of 300 and something votes that we’ve cast so far this year in the House of Representatives, every single one of them that has involved a White House position, I have voted with the White House.” “I have concurred with the policy goals they have put forth,” Brooks continued. “The record is, the White House and I have agreed 100 percent of the time on the things that the White House has sought to achieve.” Not so, says SLF spokesperson Chris Pack. As proof, Pack offers research by the nonpartisan Congressional Quarterly’s Vote Watch, where Brooks is, in fact, among the bottom 10 Republican members of Congress with the lowest percentage of voting in line with Trump’s agenda. While the number is still somewhat high – it is far from the “100 percent” that Brooks claims. “Like a typical Washington politician,” Pack says. “Mo Brooks keeps saying things that are plainly untrue to hide his record of opposing Donald Trump as a candidate and as President.” SLF recently launched a website – MoBrooksMoLies.org — dedicated to fact checking Brooks as he faces a tough Senate campaign against sitting Sen. Luther Strange and former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore. They are part of a 10-person field vying for the Republican nomination to serve the remaining term of Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Last week, Roll Call reported on internal polling that puts Brooks third in what seems to be shaping up as a three-candidate race; Moore leads with 27 percent, Strange at 23 percent and Brooks at 21 percent. Alabama voters have until July 31 to register for the Aug. 15 Republican and Democratic special primaries. The last day to apply for an absentee ballot is Aug. 10. If there is no primary winner — with 50 percent plus one — a runoff is Sept. 26; the general election is Dec. 12.
Senate Leadership Fund launches new website, ‘Mo Brooks Mo Lies’
A leading Republican super PAC tied to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is producing a new website attacking Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks in the state’s Senate GOP primary race. The Senate Leadership Fund launched “Mo Brooks Mo Lies” blasting Brooks ahead of the midsummer primary to finish the term of Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The site lists clips of Brooks speaking out about then-GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump on TV and in print, featuring a February 2016 quote where the Huntsville Republican says to MSNBC: “I don’t think you can trust Donald Trump with anything he says. Now, why do I say that? It’s because of his track record.” Other quotes include Brooks’ refusal to support Trump: “I was just asked a little while ago if I was going to endorse Donald Trump after things unfold with Donald Trump having this so-called insurmountable lead. And I said, ‘No I’m not.’” Brooks is shown to question Trump voters, telling the Huntsville Times: “I mean, what are the American people thinking? You can see my frustration.” He also “mocks” Trumps proposed border wall, telling Adam Smith of The News Courier: “The only difference between Obama’s border policy and Trump’s amnesty policy is Trump wants to spend billions on a fruitless exercise.” Senate Leadership Fund is spending more than $2.5 million to support incumbent Sen. Luther Strange, the former Alabama Attorney General appointed to the seat in February by then-Gov. Robert Bentley. Brooks faces a slate of conservative Republicans, including Strange and former state Chief Justice Roy Moore in the crowded Aug. 15 primary to fill Sessions’ former Senate seat. A primary runoff, if necessary, will be Sept. 26; a general election is Dec. 12.
Email insights: Fact checking Mo Brooks in increasingly heated Senate slugfest
As the battle for Alabama’s U.S. Senate seat rages, the most significant name in the race isn’t even on the ballot – President Donald Trump. A new email from the Senate Leadership Fund blasts congressman and Senate candidate Mo Brooks of having more than a whiff of desperation when he “pretends” to endorse Trump’s immigration policies, something which he previously ridiculed. “I think it is wonderful that what President Trump is doing on national level, that the incentive for illegal aliens to come across our border has subsided…” Brooks recently told FOX Business News “…we need that wall in place for the next Barack Obama-type Administration.” The facts simply don’t bear that out, says the email. According to SLF spokesperson Chris Pack: “Career congressman Mo Brooks is desperately trying to sell himself to Trump supporters by embracing the same Trump immigration policies that he viciously mocked just months ago. Sorry, Mo — that dog won’t hunt.” As proof, the email provides a laundry list of times Brooks mocked Trump’s border wall as “Economically Nonsense” and “A Fruitless Exercise,” offering a well-cited 2016 MSNBC video showing Brooks saying Trump “is not going to do what people think he’s going to do” on border security. “He says he wants to build this great big wall with a great big door and deport all these illegal aliens, costing taxpayers billions of dollars in deportation costs,” Brooks, a Ted Cruz supporter, told The News Courier in February 2016. “The only difference between Obama’s border policy and Trump’s amnesty policy is Trump wants to spend billions on a fruitless exercise.” The group is also behind the website MoBrooksMoLies.org. Senate Leadership Fund – which is spending more than $2.5 million to support incumbent Sen. Luther Strange — is the super PAC linked to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, designed to help protect and expand a Republican majority in the United States Senate. The SLF cash influx, along with raising nearly $2.7 million so far in the race, has allowed Strange to dominate email inboxes and airwaves. In contrast, Brooks has about $1.3 million cash on hand heading into the Aug. 15 primary, mostly leftover from previous House races. While not officially endorsing anyone, Trump has emerged as the key figure in Alabama’s Senate primary. In a recent campaign ad, Strange boasted his conservative Christian values, proudly claiming he is a “Trump man.” As Roll Call notes: “All campaigns and outside groups are seeing the same poll numbers when it comes to GOP primary voters: Trump is the clearest path to their hearts.” It certainly explains the heated slugfest between Strange and Brooks over who had been (and currently) a bigger fan of the president – particularly since Alabama was (arguably) Trump’s No. 1 state in the 2016 election.
Luther Strange dominates fundraising in Senate race
U.S. Sen. Luther Strange is outpacing his competition in fundraising heading into the final stretch before the special Republican Primary election for his senate seat. Strange, who was appointed to the seat by former Gov. Robert Bentley in February, raised $1.85 million in the second quarter for a total of $2.7 million raised so far in the special election cycle. The former Alabama Attorney General has also been on the receiving end of substantial support from a super PAC associated with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. The second-quarter haul puts him far CD 5 Republican Rep. Mo Brooks, who reported $298,000 in fundraising over the past three months and had $1.3 million on hand July 1. The third major candidate running for the seat is former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore, who pulled in $305,000 over the three-month span. The vast majority of that money came in from small-dollar donors who gave $100 or less. Despite the money lead, Strange will likely have to win three elections to keep his seat. A recent poll indicates a tight race among the top three candidates, with Moore leading the crowded Republican Primary field with 31 percent support among GOP voters. Strange followed with 23 percent and Brooks had 21 percent support. Gov. Kay Ivey scheduled the primary election for Aug. 15, and if no candidate passes 50 percent in the election, a runoff between the top-two vote-getters is slated for Sept. 28. Strange seems to be focusing on Brooks, and has put some of his campaign money to use on mailers blasting the congressman for not supporting Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential primary, and for his criticism of Trump after he secured the GOP nomination. The winner of the November general election will serve at least until January 2021, which is the rest of the term U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions won in the 2014 election cycle.
First Senate Leadership Fund ad touts Luther Strange as strong Alabama conservative
Luther Strange is the beneficiary of Senate Leadership Fund’s first TV ad, which began running Tuesday in Alabama’s U.S. Senate special election. The 30-second ad portrays the incumbent GOP senator, who previously served as Alabama Attorney General, as a conservative with a strong record on religious liberty, gun rights and fighting illegal immigration. “When Barack Obama launched an assault on our religious freedoms, Big Luther Strange said, ‘no way,”‘ the ad’s narrator says. “He stood up to Obama’s illegal amnesty plan too. And fought for our Second Amendment rights, earning Big Luther an A+ rating and an endorsement from the NRA.’” Senate Leadership Fund is connected to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell; the group purchased a $2.4 million in ad time on Alabama television and radio stations in Birmingham and Mobile from June 13 to June 27. Ads are set to run through the day of the Aug. 15 special election primary. Strange’s most arduous challenges in the GOP primary — U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks and former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore — have also pushed their hard-line conservative social positions. But as POLITICO noted last month: “It doesn’t hurt that Strange is polished, predictable and low-key, in addition to having existing relationships with many Republicans from the South.” If there is no clear winner Aug. 15, a runoff will be Sept. 26. The special election is Dec. 12.
