After primary loss, Tea Party stirs Georgia GOP runoff | Fox News

by Christina Cassidy, Associated Press

When Rep. Jack Kingston and former Dollar General CEO David Perdue advanced to a Republican runoff in Georgia’s Senate race, the Tea Party was left without a favored candidate.

Yet the state’s sizeable Tea Party crowd isn’t staying on the sidelines. Tea Partyers now appear to be rallying behind Kingston, an 11-term congressman from Savannah who has the backing of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a history of supporting federal projects in his district. It’s the pragmatic side of the Tea Party and says as much about the movement as it does about Kingston, whose voting record has been very conservative in recent years.

“We’re more concerned with people’s attitudes since the rise of the Tea Party,” said Sal Russo, chief strategist of the Tea Party Express, one of the largest Tea Party groups in the country. His group has yet to endorse in the July 22 Georgia runoff.

The Georgia race is one of at least two instances in which the national business group and the Tea Party are finding common ground. The chamber and Russo’s group also have backed Republican Rep. Steve Daines in his bid for a Senate seat in Montana, a key pickup opportunity for the GOP.

Nationally, Republicans are pushing for a net gain of six seats to claim a majority in the Senate and can’t afford to lose the Georgia seat. Democrats have rallied behind Michelle Nunn, daughter of former Sen. Sam Nunn, and see her as one of their best chances to thwart GOP ambitions.

via After primary loss, Tea Party stirs Georgia GOP runoff | Fox News.