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Lewandowski Says A “Strong Female Candidate” Could Be Better “Than Somebody Who’s Already in the Race.”
Donald Trump advisor Corey Lewandowski praised Wendy Long in an interview with the Pulse of NH’s Jack Heath today in what is the latest sign that Lewandowski is trying to recruit Long to join the messy and chaotic NH GOP Senate primary. During the interview, Heath asked Lewandowski if he and Trump were “trying to urge Wendy Long to run for US Senate.” Lewandowski quickly said that he wouldn't “divulge private conversations,” but then went on to boost Long saying, “she’s raised a lot of money” and “there could be an argument” that “a strong female candidate” could be the best option for Republicans rather “than somebody who's already in the race.” This week, the Union Leader’s Kevin Landrigan also reported that Long “told those at the Center Right meeting in Manchester last week that she’s getting ready to declare a bid,” and “must be seen as a contender for Trump’s endorsement here.” Landrigan noted how Lewandowski “wasn’t bowled over by the $750,000 Senate President Chuck Morse has raised to lead all GOP candidates in early fundraising” and pointed to his belief that “this field is not completed” as indicators that Long could be the Republican candidate Lewandowski hopes will join the primary. Read a transcript of the interview below and listen here: Jack Heath: You mentioned the midterms earlier, referenced a week ago you were talking about some of the fundraising numbers that are in with some of the candidates. Are you and the former president trying to urge Wendy Long, a New Hampshire resident now [after] she ran for Senate in New York in 2012 and 2016, to run for the U.S. Senate or not? Corey Lewandowski: I would not want to divulge any kind of private conversations. I can tell you that for anybody who doesn't know Wendy, she's a Dartmouth graduate. She has New Hampshire roots and more than that, she's exceptionally intelligent as she clerked for Clarence Thomas when she was a clerk for him as he served on the court. So someone who's very intelligent, someone who has raised a lot of money, has obviously, as you mentioned, Jack run for office on two separate occasions in New York for the U.S. Senate, once against Chuck Schumer and once against Gillibrand. So look, it's hard to come to New Hampshire and establish roots and run when you haven't been from here. But that being said, most people who have been elected to federal office here in New Hampshire were not born in this state, Jack, and I can go back 30 years and point them all out. So look, you know, New Hampshire does have a history of sending females to Washington, D.C., both at the Senate level and at the congressional level. And so that's something to take into consideration, and there could be an argument to be made that a strong female candidate would have a better chance against Maggie Hassan than somebody who's already in the race. Not my argument, but it could be made.