GOP war veteran preparing to challenge Klobuchar

Army National Guard Capt. Pete Hegseth, a counterinsurgency expert who has served in Iraq and Afghanistan, is preparing to challenge Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), two sources close to Hegseth told The Hill.

The former head of Vets for Freedom, a hawkish foreign policy advocacy group and PAC, Hegseth has a national network of supporters who have donated to his organization, and is a common face on cable television. He returned in February from Afghanistan, where he served a tour training counterinsurgency forces.

Hegseth did not respond to an email Thursday seeking comment, but two sources said his candidacy is all but official.

“His decision to run is 99 percent made,” said one GOP source with knowledge of Hegseth’s thinking.

Republicans acknowledged that any effort to unseat Klobuchar, one of the most popular senators in the country, will be an uphill battle. But by offering a compelling personal story and touting his work to support other candidates, Hegseth could be in a position to give Klobuchar a run for her money. His group raised millions to support 10 Republican veterans who ran in 2010, with mixed success.

Republicans have so far been unable to recruit any top-tier candidates with a solid chance of defeating Klobuchar, and the Republicans who have entered the field have had dismal success in the fundraising department. Added together, the three contenders’ fundraising hauls barely break $100,000. Klobuchar, meanwhile, had a $4.6 million war chest to use for her reelection as of the end of 2011.

With no elective experience, Hegseth will have to branch out from issues of foreign policy and demonstrate he can effectively lead on economic issues. He also risks running afoul of the libertarian segment of the electorate that has a strong influence over Minnesota politics.

“I think the race is wide open,” said Ben Golnik, a Republican strategist in Minnesota. “He’s a fresh face for people to see. He’s got a loss of grassroots support.”

But the biggest challenge for Hegseth will likely be organizational. Candidates in Minnesota typically agree to abide by the endorsement of the state party convention, and the local and county conventions to choose delegates for the state convention are already under way.

Still, a shadow campaign might be able to offer Hegseth somewhat of a ready-make campaign infrastructure. Led by Anne Neu, Rep. Chip Cravaak’s (R-Minn.) former campaign manager, a group in Minnesota has been working for months to draft Hegseth into the race. Neu is expected to jump on board as full-time campaign manager once Hegseth enters the race.

A source within the group said they made a strategic decision not to file for a committee with the Federal Election Commission, but that they have been sinking major dollars and time into the movement.

Hegseth has a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and is on leave from a master’s degree program in government at Harvard University. As a member of the National Guard, he served in Guantanamo Bay, and has a Bronze Star for his service in Iraq.

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