The pro-business wing of the GOP is reluctant of taking out one of their own. Amash heads into primary confident

BYRON CENTER, Mich. — Rep. Justin Amash was supposed to be the next big target of the establishment wing of the Republican Party, sweating all the way to the finish line.

Instead, campaigning just two weeks before his primary, Amash seemed almost carefree. “Things are going great,” he said after a parade this weekend in this suburb of Grand Rapids.


His confidence is for good reason. Many GOP operatives had been outspoken about their hopes to kick out Amash this cycle for being what they viewed as too extreme in his tea party positions. But while the establishment deployed a shock-and-awe strategy for Sen. Thad Cochran in Mississippi and Rep. Mike Simpson in Idaho this year when they feared losing primaries against tea party rivals, no intense effort has materialized against Amash.

The race in Michigan underscores that while Republicans say they are done with the tea party, the pro-business wing is reluctant to play the dirty game of taking out one of their own — even when it comes to a despised figure like Amash, who has repeatedly voted against much of the rest of the party.

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So for challenger Brian Ellis, all the national attention and endorsements have not translated into resources. He even had to loan his campaign a million dollars to stay in the game and the investment banker still finds himself trailing in the polls.

Operatives say it was a big deal just to get Ellis, an outsider, an endorsement from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Getting money to knock out an incumbent would be almost unheard of, even to send a message to the tea party. Plus, business has its eye on the Senate, which is within Republicans’ grasp this year.

“Brian had to do a lot of things — establish a grass-roots network, a compelling narrative and a groundswell movement,” said Stu Sandler, a veteran GOP Michigan operative who is not working on the race. “He could have used more funding to get those things up and running earlier.”

While the race isn’t over, Amash has reason to feel good: The most recent polls have him up by large margins and conventional wisdom among GOP operatives is that Amash will cruise to victory.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. The Chamber’s endorsement of Ellis was a stunning move, since the Big Business lobby rarely endorses a nonincumbent in a primary. But that’s pretty much where national support stopped.

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Amash said he wasn’t surprised the establishment has largely steered clear of the race.

“They’ve been winning in places across the country because they’ve been dumping in millions of dollars to fend off fairly weak candidates,” Amash said. “When you have a strong incumbent in the district, who is well-liked in the district, their game doesn’t work anymore. I think they are being made aware of that.”

Still, Michigan state Republican operatives say national groups like Crossroads or assistance from the National Republican Congressional Committee could have tipped the scale for Ellis.

Sandler said outside groups could have helped early in the race to try to bring Amash’s favorable numbers down by running ads in order to free up Ellis’ cash to promote himself and raise his name identification.

Just look at the money. Ellis had to loan himself $1 million on top of the $687,000 he raised from individuals and other committees. Meanwhile, Amash has raised $1.6 million from individuals and other committees. And while the national groups were MIA for Ellis, Amash has also gotten aide from big money conservative groups like Americans for Prosperity and Club for Growth that put up money for ads early in the race to help him. CFG has also done its own poll and helped bundle money for the Republican lawmaker.

“It should come as no surprise to anyone that our PAC would support a candidate with a pristine record on our issues in a primary against a self-funder with a record of supporting tax increases and corporate welfare,” said CFG’s Barney Keller, noting Amash’s 100 percent rating on the Club’s congressional scorecard.

The same can’t be said for GOP leaders supporting Amash. While a few House lawmakers frustrated by Amash like Rep. Devin Nunes of California and retiring Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers have cut checks for Ellis, and retiring Rep. Buck McKeon of California recently held a fundraiser for Ellis, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and other GOP leaders have steered clear of the race.

Other major GOP super PACs like Karl Rove’s American Crossroads or former Rep. Steve LaTourette’s Defending Main Street Super PAC have stayed out of the race. The National Rifle Association, which accused Amash of “lying” in asking for the gun lobby’s endorsement in 2010, hasn’t gotten involved. The National Right to Life Committee has also stayed mum, although Amash’s vote against legislation would ban sex-selective abortions in the Wolverine State. The Right to Life Michigan PAC is supporting Ellis and has gone so far as to send mailers in the 3rd District and put up a Web page about Amash’s votes. Amash defends his votes on his Facebook page.

While Ellis got the late endorsement of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, less than a month before primary voters will decide whether to send Amash back to Washington, it hasn’t put any money into the race. At the time of the endorsement, the Chamber’s Rob Engstrom said in a statement they were “proud” to stand with the local chambers supporting Ellis. A chamber spokeswoman declined to comment about the group’s strategy in the race when asked about whether it would put any manpower or finance advertising to support Ellis. With less than two weeks before the Aug. 5 primary, operatives say it’s highly unlikely the Chamber or other groups will buy radio or TV time.

Despite the lack of national help, his supporters aren’t complaining publicly.

Rich Studley, head of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, said national organizations have to prioritize.

“National organizations have to make even more difficult decisions where they allocate limited resources,” said Studley. “Some national organizations have already been through their primary cycle and are at the point where they have to make some really tough decisions about allocating resources and where can they be successful pushing someone across the finish line, or the November general elections.”

The Michigan Chamber and the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce went up late last week with a pro-Ellis ad buy of about $100,000 here.

For his part, Ellis said he didn’t expect an outpouring of support from the party committee or other outside groups.

“I’ve gotten good support here at the ground level, and I think what’s more important in our district is the local endorsements,” Ellis said. “I think what else is important to me is Justin sought these endorsements, he had these endorsements and then he sought them this time after putting us through the paces, these groups are coming forward and saying Brian Ellis is the best person to lead us forward.”

Ellis, particularly for a challenger, has gotten a significant number of endorsements, including from the Michigan Farm Bureau, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce and the Michigan Right to Life PAC. He’s also gotten several Washington-based political action committees to contribute to his campaign.

Amash said if he wins, it will be up to the business community and Michigan business owners who have left en masse to support Ellis to rebuild a relationship.

“I’ve been very easy to work with over the past several years, so it’s up to them,” Amash said. “If they decide that they are not interested in having a representative who will reflect the values of the district and represent ordinary people, then that’s their problem, not mine.”

Despite big groups not playing in his race, Ellis is keeping an upbeat attitude and still believes he could close the gap.

Recently, he and his wife spent the afternoon door-knocking crisscrossing the streets in Hidden Hills, where Ellis got a favorable reception by many of the likely Republican voters on his list.

One woman, a teacher, pressed Ellis on the border crisis and education funding. After five minutes, he’d won not only her vote but three others in her household.

Several people recognized him, something he touted afterward that the ads he’s been running are working.

“I love doing it, it gives me energy,” Ellis said of door knocking. “I know it’s hard to cover a big district like this, but I still think it’s an important component to any campaign.”

And he’s not planning on letting up — running TV ads, attending events and continuing the retail politics that is so important in primary elections.

“You have to run to the finish line, that’s my plan,” Ellis said.