Club for Growth to fight Mike Huckabee if he runs for White House

Mike Huckabee hasn't officially declared that he is running for president, but a prominent group has already said it won't be on his bandwagon.

The anti-tax Club for Growth PAC said Monday it will do its part to tell Republicans about the former Arkansas governor's "poor record of raising taxes and spending" while in office from 1996 to 2007.

"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," said Club for Growth President David McIntosh.

Huckabee ended his run on Fox News this weekend, saying goodbye to the program he's hosted since 2008 while he considers running for president again.  Huckabee, who won the 2008 Iowa caucuses, needs to assess his ability to raise big money for a race in which Jeb Bush, Chris Christie and Rand Paul are among the potential candidates who already have national donor networks.

The Club for Growth and Huckabee have a fractious relationship. In 2008, a political arm of the organization ran TV ads about Huckabee's record.

The former Arkansas governor told listeners of his radio program in 2013 that he's "disgusted and frustrated" by the Club for Growth's mind-set. He endorsed candidates in 2012 for U.S. Senate who were opposed by the organization.

"I kind of have a standing philosophy: If the Club for Growth hates you, I like you," Huckabee said on his radio show, according to Politico.