Club for Growth Boosts Spending on Anti-Dewhurst Ads

The Club for Growth has doubled down on Ted Cruz.

The Washington, D.C.-based group announced Wednesday that it has spent nearly $2 million in the last week alone on ads criticizing Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, the presumptive front-runner in the race to replace Kay Bailey Hutchison in the U.S. Senate. The group endorsed Cruz, a former state solicitor general, last year. 

Earlier this month, The Club for Growth announced a $1 million ad buy targeting Dewhurst. The group made a smaller ad buy opposing Dewhurst in January.

“It’s clear that Dewhurst and his allies have become desperate to avoid a runoff with Ted Cruz, because they know that David Dewhurst doesn’t come close to comparing with Ted Cruz on the issues," Club for Growth president Chris Chocola said in a statement. "Ted Cruz is a principled conservative who will fight the big-spenders in both parties, while David Dewhurst is an establishment moderate who will fight conservatives in Washington just like he’s done in Austin.”

The group's announcement comes a day after a suprising Republican primary in Nebraska in which the Club for Growth put its resources toward supporting state Treasurer Don Stenberg and criticizing Attorney General Jon Bruning. Both candidates lost to state Sen. Deb Fischer. 

Dewhurst and Gov. Rick Perry voted early Wednesday morning for the May 29 primary at an Austin library. Speaking to reporters afterward, Dewhurst made it clear that he feels out-of-state groups are trying to subvert democracy. 

“These outside PACs from Washington have now spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $6 million saying untrue things about me" Dewhurst said. "I think the people of Texas are more interested in what Texans think than what a group of self-serving special interest individuals in Washington trying to hand-pick their U.S. senator by saying nothing but untrue things about my record. I’m proud of my record. It’s the same record as Gov. Perry has."

Two Super PACs, both based in Texas, are also supporting Dewhurst's campaign.