Club for Growth backs Rubio over Crist in race for Florida Senate seat

The Club’s decision has been long-awaited. The organization has been sharply critical of the race’s front-runner, Republican Gov. Charlie Crist, from the outset, and last week debuted an advertisement against him.

Rubio has benefited from an increase in momentum in the polls and fundraising, having raised about $1 million in the third quarter.

Rubio’s ability to win was the main hang-up for the group, and Club President Chris Chocola said any concerns have been satisfied.

“Marco Rubio is the real deal, one of the brightest young stars in American politics today and a proven champion of economic liberty,” Chocola said. “He is a dynamic spokesman for the principles of limited government and economic freedom, and he will make a fantastic senator.”

In response, Crist spokeswoman Andrea Saul highlighted some local reporting over the weekend that called into question Rubio’s billing as a conservative darling.

“While Marco Rubio has a record of raising taxes and spending exorbitantly, Charlie Crist is a true fiscal conservative and looks forward to working with Club for Growth on their shared goals as Florida’s next U.S. senator,” Saul said.

Crist maintains a double-digit lead over Rubio and has proven the most potent fundraiser of all non-incumbents running for the upper chamber. Through two quarters of fundraising, Crist has already raised nearly $7 million.

But his support for the stimulus bill earlier this year and other centrist positions have left him vulnerable to attacks from his right flank.

The Club’s ad last week featured video of Crist standing next to President Barack Obama at an event promoting the stimulus. It sought to fight back on Crist’s contention that he never endorsed the legislation.

Conservative activists who pushed liberal Republican Dede Scozzafava out of last week’s special election in New York have now turned their attention to Florida, and the Club’s involvement should give them a boost.

The Club directs wealthy donors to fiscally conservative political candidates, often helping them raise hundreds of thousands of dollars extra. It has also shown an increased proclivity to spend money running television ads, as it did in the New York special election, where it spent to the tune of $650,000.

Florida is much bigger and more expensive than New York’s 23rd district, though, so it is unlikely that the Club could carry Rubio in much the same way it carried Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman.

Though Hoffman wound up losing, Chocola sought to portray Rubio as someone who could win in the general election.

“The Club for Growth PAC [political action committee] has spent months studying this race, and we have concluded that either Charlie Crist or Marco Rubio would be heavily favored to win next November against likely Democratic nominee [Rep.] Kendrick Meek,” Chocola said. “The only question now is, What kind of Republican will Florida send to Washington next year: a pro-growth Republican with a record of fiscal conservatism or a big-government Republican with a record of tax increases?”

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) has endorsed Crist in the name of keeping the seat red. In backing him, it reasoned that his crossover appeal and fundraising ability would make the race an afterthought in the general election, thereby saving national Republicans the trouble of keeping the seat.

Crist is far outpolling Meek, while Rubio and Meek run much closer to each other. If Rubio can win the primary or damage Crist sufficiently, the race could rise on the list of priorities on the Democratic side.

This story was updated at 7:00 p.m.