WASHINGTON, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina is battling Texas Sen. John Cornyn over conservative and more conservative Republican primary candidates.
DeMint, chairman of the Senate Republican Steering Committee, is backing conservative California Republican Chuck DeVore in the primary for the chance to face incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer, The Hill reported. Cornyn, the National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman, supports the more moderate former Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Officer Carly Fiorina.
"John Cornyn has picked a candidate he thinks can win and I picked one that I believe can not only win the primary but the general (election) and when he gets here, he's going to help us turn this Congress around," DeMint said.
When he decided to seek re-election in 2010, DeMint said he promised himself he would try to change the ideological makeup of the Republican conference.
"I decided that I did not want to be here with the same people that I've been with before, Democrats, Republicans, everybody," DeMint told The Hill. "I want some (senators) who are willing to stand up and go where America is going."
DeMint has established a fundraising committee, the Senate Conservatives Fund, to counteract support the GOP establishment may give to centrist candidates.
Conservative activists have criticized Cornyn for setting up the committees with candidates going toe-to-toe with conservatives in GOP primaries.
"Every Republican campaigns on being a conservative," DeMint said, "but if you look at what we do once we're in office, most people join the club rather than the country after they get here, particularly in the Senate."
