Former State Representative Barry Moore’s (R-Enterprise) campaign for Congress this week received endorsements from two prominent national conservative groups: the House Freedom Fund and the Club for Growth.
Moore is set to face Wiregrass businessman Jeff Coleman in a runoff election to decide who will be the Republican nominee in Alabama’s heavily conservative Second Congressional District. In the March 3 primary, Coleman received 38.06% of the vote to Moore’s 20.45%.
Moore came in ahead of former Attorney General Troy King and Prattville businesswoman Jessica Taylor in that primary, even though Moore’s campaign relatively trailed in fundraising compared to the rest of the competitive field in the race, including Coleman.
The House Freedom Fund is an independent political action committee affiliated with the Freedom Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Freedom Caucus is widely considered the furthest-right bloc within the House Republican Conference.
Two well-known members of the Freedom Caucus have been U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and former U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), now chief of staff to President Donald Trump. The House Freedom Fund is led in part by Ray Yonkura, who was previously Jordan’s chief of staff.
In an email sent to donors, Yonkura announced the group’s endorsement of Moore, saying, “He’s the only proven conservative candidate in this race who will join the House Freedom Caucus and truly fight for our principles and values in Washington.”
“The Freedom Fund’s endorsement means the world to me. The members of the Freedom Caucus were the President’s staunchest defenders during the impeachment, and they’ve been the tip of the spear in getting his agenda through Congress,” said Moore in a statement.
“The Freedom Caucus has been the President’s go-to group in the House since day one. President Trump proved this by choosing his last two Chiefs of Staff, Mick Mulvaney, and Mark Meadows, from the Freedom Caucus,” he added.
Moore was the first elected official in Alabama to endorse then-candidate Trump in 2015, and he has a claim to be one of the first in the nation.
He has maintained he will join the House Freedom Caucus if elected to Congress.
The Club for Growth is an influential force based in Washington, D.C., that backs candidates through its various political arms. In other Alabama races, they spent heavily against U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope) in his U.S. Senate run, and are backing former State Senator Bill Hightower (R-Mobile) in the congressional race in Alabama’s first district and now former Auburn University head football coach Tommy Tuberville in the U.S. Senate Republican primary runoff.
“Barry Moore is a veteran and a principled, free market conservative who hasn’t shied away from the big fights on taxes, deregulation, and term limits,” said David McIntosh, Club for Growth PAC President in an announcement of the group’s endorsement.
The most recent FEC fundraising data is accurate as of March 11. It shows Moore’s campaign has no cash on hand and is heavily in debt to loans from Moore himself.
“Barry Moore was massively outspent in the initial primary phase of this campaign, but he shocked the political establishment in Alabama by working hard and turning out his supporters,” said House Freedom Fund’s Ray Yonkura on the subject of fundraising.
Neither the Freedom Fund nor the Club for Growth indicated the level of financial resources they would be putting behind getting Moore elected.
The primary runoff, originally scheduled for March 31, has been moved to July 14 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: henry@new-yhn.local or on Twitter @HenryThornton95.
