Though he never mentioned her by name, U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks tied one of his Senate opponents to “special interests” to explain her fundraising prowess and to distinguish himself from an opponent appearing to gain traction in the Senate race.
In a speech Saturday to the Republican Men’s Club in Huntsville, Brooks said the Republican Party was split into two factions – classifying himself as part of the “conservative” wing and Katie Britt as part of the “special interest” wing.
Brooks also appeared to link Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby – who is supporting Britt, his former chief of staff – to special interest groups.
Brooks and Britt are part of a crowded field of Republican candidates running to replace the retiring Shelby.
“In the Republican primary, we have two wings,” Brooks said. “One we might call the conservative wing. That’s where the voters are. They want to protect our foundational principles.
“We have another wing that goes by a lot of different names. You may call them the special interests wing or the RINO (Republicans In Name Only) wing, typically referred to as the establishment wing. They have the money but they don’t have the votes. Conservatives have the votes.”
While the votes in the Senate Republican primary won’t be cast until May 2022, the money race is ongoing and Britt is dominating so far.
She reported raising more than $1.5 million in the last quarter that ended Sept. 30. That’s more than twice as much as Brooks reported raising at $699,909. No other candidate in the race reported raising more than $150,000.
Britt also said that 88 percent of the money she has raised so far has come from Alabamians. In her most recent quarterly report, Britt said 95 percent of donations came from individuals.
Britt also outraised Brooks at an almost 3-to-1 rate in her first three months in the race.
“I’m not going to be the special interest group candidate,” Brooks said. “I’m standing up for the American people. And I’m going to have arrows shot at me. I’m going to have bullets shot at me. But I’m doing it for the American people.”
Brooks never identified any of the special interests group he referred to. But he has openly sparred with the political action committee of the Alabama Farmers Federation since it endorsed Britt in the Senate race earlier this month.
Brooks also said that special interest groups have outsized influence in who ascends to lead certain high-profile committees in Congress. In listing some of those committees, Brooks included appropriations. Shelby, of course, became chair of Senate appropriations in 2018 and held the position until Democrats won control of the Senate in 2020.
“I’m going to share with you a little dirty secret,” Brooks said. “Did you know that if you want to be chairman of Ways and Means or Appropriations or Energy and Commerce or Financial Services, one of these committees that we call it an ‘A’ committee because the special interest groups really care about those committees more so than others, that the minimum opening bid price is a million bucks?
“Did you know that? Think about that? Sure, merit plays a little bit into who gets these chairmanships with the ‘A’ committees. But if you can’t come up with a purchase price, you’re not even considered.”
Brooks also linked Britt to the election of Democrat Doug Jones to the Senate in 2017 over Republican Roy Moore. Shelby announced he would not vote for Moore after allegations of sexual assault were made against Moore a month before the general election. Moore has repeatedly denied the allegations in public comments and court documents.
Jones raised money off Shelby’s stance before the election and Britt was Shelby’s chief of staff at the time.
“I abhor the thought that we might nominate somebody who helped Doug Jones get elected,” Brooks said.
In Brooks’ 20-minute speech, he was interrupted once by applause as he told of a nickname he has in Congress: ‘No’ Brooks.
“I have that nickname with by debt junkie colleagues because I vote ‘no’ on all this spending,” Brooks said as his audience cheered. “And they get mad that I make it hard for them to vote ‘yes.’
“We cannot have a national insolvency in the United States of America but that’s where we’re headed because we have so many weak people who focus on the next election rather than America’s future.”
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