McConnell's Campaign Manager Steps Down - New York Times ~ Google News

Friday, August 29, 2014

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In: 2014, News, Top story, Update

McConnell's Campaign Manager Steps Down - New York Times

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Politics |McConnellâ€™s Campaign Manager Steps Down

http://nyti.ms/1u7LQui

WASHINGTON â€” Senator Mitch McConnell, already facing what could be the toughest election in his career, lost his campaign manager on Friday night.

The manager, Jesse Benton, issued a statement just after 6 p.m. abruptly announcing his departure and citing reports about his â€œrole in past campaigns.â€ Mr. Benton was referring to his job as a senior official in former Representative Ron Paulâ€™s 2012 presidential campaign, which paid an Iowa state senator to switch his support from Representative Michele Bachmann to Mr. Paul right before the stateâ€™s caucus.

The state senator, Kent Sorenson, who resigned last year, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to obstruction of justice charges stemming from the bribery scandal. He acknowledged accepting $73,000 from Mr. Paulâ€™s campaign to drop his support for Mrs. Bachmann.

Mr. Benton has not been implicated in the case, but his position in Mr. Paulâ€™s campaign has revived questions about what he knew about the bribe, and the case put Mr. McConnell, the Senate minority leader, on the defensive during an already difficult week.

â€œI cannot, and will not, allow any possibility that my circumstances will affect the votersâ€™ ability to hear his message and assess his record,â€ Mr. Benton said of Mr. McConnell.

Mr. McConnell, who is seeking his sixth term, is a famously methodical politician, but his campaign against his Democratic opponent, Alison Lundergan Grimes, has been marred by missteps.

Just this week, an audio recording of Mr. McConnell speaking to a conference put on by the Koch brothersâ€™ political organization was revealed by the liberal magazine The Nation. In the recording, the senator is heard criticizing congressional Democrats for repeatedly holding votes on the minimum wage, unemployment benefits and student loans.

Polls show Mr. McConnell and Ms. Grimes to be neck and neck in a race that could play a role in determining if Democrats retain control of the Senate.

From the start, Mr. Benton seemed an odd fit for the McConnell team â€” the senator typically elevates loyalists to run his campaigns. Last year, an audiotape was released in which Mr. Benton was heard saying that he was â€œholding my noseâ€ while working for Mr. McConnell. Mr. Benton comes from the libertarian wing of the party, and he is married to a granddaughter of Mr. Paul. He worked for the Paul presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2012 and for Rand Paul â€” Ron Paulâ€™s son â€” in his successful 2010 race for a Kentucky Senate seat.

Mr. Benton was brought on in part to mollify Tea Party activists wary of Mr. McConnell, who faced a heated primary challenge from the right this year.

In the tape released last year, Mr. Benton was talking to a libertarian-leaning backer of the Pauls, explaining that he was working for Mr. McConnell to bolster Rand Paulâ€™s prospects in anticipation of his expected presidential campaign in 2016.

A version of this article appears in print on August 30, 2014, on page A13 of the New York edition with the headline: McConnell’s Campaign Manager Steps Down.