U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks’ (R-Huntsville) senatorial candidacy picked up a boost Monday afternoon as U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) stumped on behalf of the congressman at a campaign rally in Alabama’s Rocket City.
Monday evening, Brooks received an additional public display of support from another prominent elected official in U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who campaigned for the candidate in a statewide tele-townhall.
According to the congressman, the tele-townhall garnered around 10,000 participants during the course of the call, which lasted more than 35 minutes in duration.
The Kentucky senator kicked off his remarks to voters by touting Brooks’ conservative voting record.
“I am excited to endorse Mo Brooks. I endorsed him several months ago and I’m happy to re-endorse him today,” said Paul. “I said that when I first ran that the Republican Party is an empty vessel unless we imbue it with values. It’s not enough to be just a Republican — you have to believe in something.”
Paul then lamented what he asserted to be the lack of Republicans who were sufficiently conservative on issues relating to federal spending.
“Mo Brooks will vote for a balanced budget. I don’t know that about all Republicans,” he admitted. “I mean, we have hundreds of Republicans running across the country. Many of them will come up there and they’ll be part of establishment, the big government Republicans that really don’t make things any better.”
He then expressed discontent with Republicans’ lack of investigative authority over matters concerning Hunter Biden’s laptop, along with the absence of political will to subpoena the records of White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Paul advised that Brooks would be supportive of his efforts as Alabama’s junior senator.
“Well, you know, these corrupt politicians manipulated the last election — that’s how they were able to win. But a lot of it’s because of the weakness and timidity of Republicans,” declared the senator. “So you’re going to have a primary tomorrow, you’re going to have a choice. You’ve got a chance.”
“I’m not here to disparage the other candidates, but I can tell you I don’t know,” continued Paul. “But I do know how Mo Brooks votes. He’s one of the most conservative members of the House. I’d probably say he’s one of the five most conservative members of the House. I think he will in the U.S. Senate also.”
Paul added that he believed Brooks was “conscious and cares about the deficit, cares about our country, and I think Mo Brooks is the choice for tomorrow.”
In touting the endorsement, Brooks sang Paul’s praises and said the senator was a leader in the upper chamber of Congress “particularly on liberty and freedom issues, and minimizing the role of the federal government as it becomes more and more intrusive into our daily affairs.”
Brooks faces former Business Council of Alabama head Katie Britt and U.S. Army veteran Mike Durant Tuesday in the Republican primary contest to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Tuscaloosa).
If no candidate earns a plurality of all votes cast, a runoff election will take place June 21, 2022, to determine who will be the Republican Party’s nominee for Alabama’s open U.S. Senate seat.
Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL