Greg Sowards campaigning for Congress in 2008. (Photo by Heath Haussamen)
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Greg Sowards visited Washington, D.C. earlier this week in an attempt to establish himself as the true conservative in the race.
“There will be no one to my right, and I believe the other candidates are more conglomerated around the moderate area,” Sowards said in an interview with Politico. “I don’t see how anyone would get between me and conservative principles. They can go to the loon right, which is, as far as I’m concerned, like coming back around on the left.”
From Politico:
“Sowards is in D.C. this week to meet with an array of conservative touchstone groups like the Club for Growth, the National Rifle Association, FreedomWorks, Sen. Jim DeMint’s Senate Conservatives Fund, the Tea Party Express and the National Republican Trust. Representatives with The Prosper Group, which handled fundraising for several high-profile tea party candidates like Sharron Angle and Rep. Allen West, flew into meet with Sowards recently, according to an adviser.”
Sowards has run for federal office twice in the past, without success; however, with the growth of the tea party movement, he appears to be getting a closer look from some influential groups this time around. He also recently got a prominent mention in an investors.com article.
One of Sowards’ missions is to keep U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., out of the race. While Pearce hasn’t announced his plans, Sowards was quoted by Politico as saying Pearce supporters have told him they don’t want Pearce giving up his House seat to run for Senate.
Lt. Gov. John Sanchez is also in Washington this week as he considers entering the Republican Senate primary. If he does enter the race, he will try to portray himself as being to the right of the highest-profile declared Republican candidate – former U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson – which would put Sanchez directly at odds with Sowards.
One other less-known Republican has entered the race to replace Jeff Bingaman in the U.S. Senate – William S. English of Alamogordo. No Democrats have entered the race.