Former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner continues to garner support from nationally prominent figures affiliated with the conservative movement in his bid to win the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson in the 2012 U.S. Senate race. The latest conservative to bestow his blessing on Hasner is radio host and longtime media figure Hugh Hewitt.
A law professor who worked in the Reagan administration and the Richard Nixon Presidential Library, Hewitt has grown into a leading conservative media figure with his radio show and assorted writings. Besides his blogs and books, Hewitt wrote for both the World and the Weekly Standard.
Earlier in the week, Hewitt offered warm words for Hasners Senate ambitions.
I got a call over the weekend, actually it was a tweet, 'who should I start supporting?' People want to get involved in the 2012 cycle, and I said you can look at Adam Hasner, you can look at Josh Mandel, you can look at Ted Cruz for United States Senate, said Hewitt. Mandel, the current state treasurer of Ohio, is expected to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown in 2012. Cruz is a former state solicitor general of Texas who is running in an extremely crowded Republican primary to replace retiring Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in 2012.
These are Senate candidates who will fundamentally change the way politics is done in Washington, D.C., insisted Hewitt. If you want to go to Adam Hasner and send him 25, 50 or 100 bucks, that's one race you can contribute to with great confidence that your money is going to a conservative who is going to be a constitutional conservative when they get to D.C."
Hewitt is the latest in a series of nationally prominent conservatives who have backed Hasner. The former state House leader has already won the backing of Ken Blackwell, Monica Crowley, Erick Erickson and Mark Levin.
Hasner appeared on Hefners show and stressed his vision for what conservatives need to do in Washington.
Republicans don't need to be less partisan, Republicans need to be more principled, insisted Hasner. And that's what we need in Washington right now, are conservatives who are going to go up there and take on the Democrats on the big issues of the day, like spending and taxes and the debt and entitlement reform, but who are also going to stand up to Republicans within our own party who stray from the limited government principles that we need to implement in order to get our economy going again, grow jobs, and have a much more sustainable future."
A host of candidates stand in Hasners path for the Republican nomination. Fresh from giving a well-received address at the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans last weekend, Mike McCalister, a retired Army officer and businessman who took more than 10 percent of the vote in the Republican gubernatorial primary in 2010, appears to be picking up traction with conservatives. Other candidates include state Senate President Mike Haridopolos, former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, businessman Ron Rushing, businessman Ron McNeil who ran for Congress in 2010, and consultant Bill Fisher who also made a bid for Congress last year. Other possible candidates include U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, former Ruth's Chris CEO Craig Miller who ran for Congress in 2010, and businessman Nick Loeb.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
