Republicans at the national level face a “bleak” political future if they don’t find leaders who can swing the party back to its low-tax, small-government roots, a leading conservative said Friday.

Stephen Moore, an economist who founded the Club for Growth, a national fundraising group that has spent millions to elect free-market candidates, said Republicans suffered defeats in the House and Senate last year because they became “seduced by the power” of being the majority party for years.

That majority status led Republicans down the path of pork-barrel spending, a path that led to defeat in 2006.

“I think Republicans haven’t hit the bottom yet,” Moore said. “Things could get worse before they get better.”

Moore spoke to a small number of conservatives at a private gathering in Sioux Falls, followed by a luncheon.

The North and South Dakota chapters of Americans for Prosperity hosted the event.

For more on this story, see Saturday’s Argus Leader.