Carlsbad’s rainmaker for the right

The victory of Roy Moore over Donald Trump–backed Luther Strange in last week’s bitterly fought Senate Republican primary in Alabama spelled good news for Republican fundraiser Matt Hoskins of Carlsbad. Thus far this year, his Bold Colors Group has received $27,150 in fees from Senate Conservatives Action and $38,945 from Senate Conservatives Fund, along with $60,358 from the House Freedom Fund. “It’s clear that Mitch McConnell’s failed leadership is the reason why Luther Strange lost this race,” blogged the Senate Conservatives Fund the day after Moore won. “Perhaps now Senate Republicans will see how McConnell is giving them a bad name, and finally replace him with someone who respects the grassroots and will fight for conservative policies.”

Formerly with North Carolina GOP ex-senator Jim DeMint and cofounder of Senate Conservatives, the low-profile Hoskins “was instrumental in helping to elect several insurgent candidates, including U.S. Senators Mike Lee (R-UT), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Rand Paul (R-KY), and Marco Rubio (R-FL),” per his LinkedIn page. “During this time, Matt helped SCF raise more than $48 million to support conservative candidates across the country.”

Noted a 2014 Politico write-up, “Hoskins has an ideal situation — he runs a multimillion-dollar operation with no board of directors to which to report. He and his core team of five staffers essentially have free rein to spend donors’ cash — to lambaste sitting senators, renovate the group’s Washington office space or build the SCF’s notoriety on the right.” Added an irate North Carolina GOP senator Richard Burr, “Matt is in it for whatever Matt can get out of it. It’s not anything more than that.” The group’s current president, Ken Cuccinelli, is an ex–attorney general of Virginia and 2013 Republican gubernatorial candidate. “He is fully committed to helping elect the next wave of conservative leaders.”