Politics

Saul Anuzis contemplates 2012 Senate bid against Debbie Stabenow in Michigan

Alexis Levinson Political Reporter
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Though we’ve scarcely recovered from the excitement and intrigue of his run for the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee earlier this month, Saul Anuzis is already considering jumping into another race.

Anuzis, the former chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, announced on Monday that he is feeling out a possible run against Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow in 2012.

“I’m talking to folks, looking at the various options,” he told The Daily Caller. “Flying to D.C. tonight, got a couple of meetings in Washington with party leaders, meeting with a couple consultants.”

A bid for the Senate seems to come out of the blue for Anuzis, who until two weeks ago was thoroughly absorbed in his campaign to be chairman of the RNC, a race he lost to former Wisconsin GOP Chairman Reince Priebus. Anuzis admitted as much.

“I’d not even thought about it till after the race and someone brought up with me that I consider it. … Before I knew it there was some online discussion going on and some phone calls being made, and that’s really how the conversation started.”

Anuzis’s political career thus far has mostly kept him out of the spotlight. “Traditionally I’ve been kind of a behind-the-scenes type of person who’s helping others to get elected,” he said.

But the high profile role of senator appeals to him. “I think that, there are some unique opportunities with respects to taking back the U.S. Senate,” he said, “and if it was something that I could be part of, I’d love the opportunity to serve.”

Anuzis stressed that he was in the very preliminary stages of the process, and that he was still just testing the waters.

“This will take a tremendous amount of fundraising and a fairly large political organization in a large state,” he said. “So this is a huge undertaking. I don’t think it’s something you can decide in a flip of a coin. It will take some time to get around and talk to folks and see whether or not I feel there’s a viable option that I and my family really want to go through and do in the next year.”

Nonetheless, Anuzis said he expects to make a decision by February or March, once its clear what the situation is and who else is planning to run.

“It’s not going to be a long process,” he said.

Anuzis’ fellow RNC chairman candidate, Ann Wagner, has also announced a possible Senate run for Sen. Claire McCaskill’s seat in Missouri. Anuzis pointed out the parallel between this situation and one from 1994 when Spence Abraham and John Ashcroft each lost bids to become chair of the RNC, and went on to be elected senators from Michigan and Missouri respectively.

“History tends to be a good judge of what will happen in the future,” Anuzis said, “and I think that that is a very real possibility given the political environment.”

Unlike Wagner, however, who has said that if certain of her friends or colleagues entered the race, she might not pursue a run, Anuzis has no such hang ups.

“I have never been somebody who has discouraged people from running or would be discouraged myself by anything,” he said. “I mean, either I think I have what it takes and have an opportunity to do this, or I don’t.”

“If I got in,” he added, “I’d get in with the idea of winning.”