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February 15, 2010

Simcox endorses Hayworth

By Ben Smith
Politico
Feb. 15, 2009

Chris Simcox, the co-founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, the militant anti-illegal immigration group, has dropped his own primary challenge to Sen. John McCain for Senate to endorse former Congressman J.D. Hayworth, according to Hayworth spokesman Jason Rose.

Simcox hadn't found much traction in the poll attacking McCain for his support for a package of measures known as Comprehensive Immigration Reform, deeply unpopular among many Republican primary voters, who consider it "amnesty." His endorsement gives will offer Hayworth — who had already attacked McCain from the right on immigration — even more visibility in that segment of the GOP base.

UPDATE: Simcox's comments at the announcement, per Rose:

Last April I made the decision to challenge John McCain because his votes for bailouts and open borders confirmed what so many of us knew to be true. He had been in office for too long, and he was not interested in defending conservative principles.

A lot has changed since then. The bad news is that the Obama Administration has taken us very far in the wrong direction. The good news is that the people of this country have woken up!

And the time is ripe for a new Republican Revolution!

From New York to New Jersey, Virginia to Massachusetts, and Florida to
Texas, conservative Republicans and their brothers and sisters in the Tea
Parties have united to say ³No More!² to the liberals who run our nation.

And now we have an incredible opportunity here in Arizona to win perhaps the
most important race in the entire country. The New York Times calls him a
moderate, and they love his politics. Well do you know what Arizonans call a
New York moderate? A liberal!

When J.D. got into this race I thought long and hard about the decision I
had to make, and it became obvious to me that the right thing to do was to
remember the mission: Elect a consistent conservative to the United State
Senate.

My friends, that is exactly what we are here to do!

So it is with great pleasure that I stand with J.D. Hayworth and endorse his
campaign!

I pledge to him, and to all of you, that I will do my all and give my all to
this cause. And I urge my supporters to follow me and join J.D.¹s team.
The name on the ballot matters far less than what that person stands for.

J.D. is a conservative we can be proud of.

Now let¹s get out there and win!