Club for Growth vows fight against ‘big government’ Huckabee

As former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) makes moves toward another presidential run, a familiar antagonist is promising to let GOP voters know about his “big government” record.

{mosads}The fiscally conservative Club for Growth released a statement Monday morning slamming Huckabee’s tenure in office, just days after Huckabee announced he’d be leaving his Fox News show to focus on whether to run for president.

“As Mike Huckabee weighs the pros and cons of a second presidential candidacy, he should know that the Club for Growth PAC will make sure that Republican primary voters thoroughly examine his exceptionally poor record of raising taxes and spending as governor,” Club for Growth President David McIntosh said in a statement.

“In a year in which GOP voters appear likely to have several good pro-economic growth candidates to choose from, Mike Huckabee’s big government record would stand out from the crowd, and not in a good way,” McIntosh continued.

The release then details times the group says Huckabee raised taxes in Arkansas and rips him for raising the minimum wage and increasing the state government’s spending while he was governor.

Huckabee would enter the 2016 fray as a strong contender in early voting Iowa, which he won in 2008. But he’ll have to answer voters’ questions about his economic track record in a party that’s grown increasingly uncompromising on pocketbook issues in recent years.

The Club for Growth has long been a Huckabee foe, running ads in 2008 attacking his record, as he sought the GOP nomination. The two have long criticized one another.