A far-right super PAC that backed Alabama Republican Roy Moore’s failed bid for the Senate is now encouraging Utah Rep. Mia Love to run for retiring Sen. Orrin Hatch’s seat.
The group’s aim? Block Mitt Romney from running.
Though the 2012 GOP presidential nominee and former Massachusetts governor is expected to launch a campaign, he has yet to announce any plans. And Love quickly condemned the effort by the Solution Fund political action committee.
“I didn’t support Roy Moore, and I certainly don’t support this PAC,” Love wrote Thursday on Twitter. “I am outraged they are using my name to raise money for their interests.”
The super PAC, based in Louisiana, spent $11,000 on digital advertising to support Love’s potential candidacy. The expenditure, first reported by The Daily Beast, was made Tuesday — shortly after Hatch ended months of speculation and said he would not run for re-election this year.
The money went toward a fundraiser email calling Love “the most exciting young Republican conservative in Congress” while blasting Romney as “the best friend Hillary Clinton ever had.” It was paid to SFI Winsystems, a company owned by one of the PAC’s executives, John Mathis.
The email claims the super PAC has a $50,000 matching gift available if it can raise an equal amount from donors.
Neither Mathis nor the Solution Fund’s treasurer Robert San Luis, also the PAC’s largest donor, could be reached for comment Thursday.
The committee spent nearly $285,000 last year, according to federal election filings, to support Moore’s candidacy, which failed after allegations surfaced of his sexual misconduct with teenage girls.
“You can’t stop them from doing it,” said Dave Hansen, Love’s adviser and campaign manager, noting that candidates cannot legally coordinate with super PACs. “Mia Love did not ask for their help and does not support them. … We do what we can to disassociate ourselves with them.”
Hansen said Love is not considering a Senate run and is instead “focusing on her congressional race.” She faces a tough challenge from Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams, a Democrat.
