Ken Cuccinelli has been tapped as the new president of the Senate Conservatives Fund, the outside political action committee known for taking on incumbent Republicans “who’ve lost their way.”
The former attorney general of Virginia — who unsuccessfully ran for governor last year — confirmed the news in a Wednesday news release.
“I’m honored to serve as the next president of the Senate Conservatives Fund,” Cuccinelli said. “I’ve always had tremendous respect for this organization and applaud its members for working to elect principled conservatives. SCF has given our nation’s grassroots a powerful voice and I’m excited to join them in the fight. I look forward to working with the hundreds of thousands of SCF supporters across the nation to help change Washington.”
Cuccinelli, the Republican nominee for governor in Virginia, lost a close race to Democrat Terry McAuliffe in 2013. Since his loss, Cuccinelli has practiced law, teaming up with Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul to sue the Obama administration over the government’s collection of telephone metadata.
The Senate Conservatives Fund was founded in 2008 by former South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint and has made waves supporting conservative candidates in Senate races since then.
This cycle, the Senate Conservatives Fund has supported a number of Republican primary challengers over incumbent senators, including Chris McDaniel in Mississippi, Matt Bevin in Kentucky and Milton Wolf in Kansas.
“Ken Cuccinelli is the perfect person to continue and expand on what Jim DeMint started with SCF,” Executive Director Matt Hoskins said. “He’s a principled fighter who is respected by the grassroots and is passionate about electing the next generation of conservative leaders.”
Cuccinelli, in a video message to the group’s supporters, vowed to keep going after Republican incumbents.
“Going forward, we’re going to continue to fight to elect even more conservatives,” he said, “and that means continuing to stand up to the status quo, continuing to support conservative candidates wherever we find them, and, yes, that means continuing to take on Republican incumbents who’ve lost their way.”