Lugar will not campaign for Mourdock in Indiana Senate race

Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) will not campaign for Richard Mourdock, the GOP candidate who toppled him in Indiana's Senate primary, the lawmaker said in an interview with a conservative Indiana blogger.

During the interview, first reported by The Associated Press and conducted by Abdul Hakim-Shabazz, Lugar said that the only support he planned to offer Mourdock was during his concession speech earlier this year, during which he said that he hopes Mourdock "wins in November to help give my friend Mitch McConnell a majority."

"I've not been a factor in the campaign and I do not intend to do so," he told Hakim-Shabazz.

Lugar's statement comes after a bitter primary fight, during which Tea Party-aligned Mourdock ran on a sharply partisan platform in opposition to one of the more bipartisan Senators in Washington. Lugar criticized Mourdock's partisanship during his concession speech, saying that his "embrace of an unrelenting partisan mindset is irreconcilable with my philosophy of governance and my experience of what brings results for Hoosiers in the Senate."

In the interview, posted Monday, Mourdock also said that he believes his loss was largely due to low turnout in some counties, and shared that he does not yet have plans after his term ends.

Though Indiana voters are unlikely to see Lugar on the stump for Mourdock, he did have some advice for the candidate:

"Be a constructive campaigner," he said.

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