Candidates won’t commit to McConnell | TheHill

While Tea Party candidates often run against GOP leaders in Washington during primary contests, establishment candidates this year are leery of expressing allegiance to McConnell too.

Republican strategists say it’s a sign of the growing divide between party leaders and conservative voters, who have a history of roiling GOP primaries.

Karen Handel, a Senate candidate who hails from the party establishment as a former Georgia secretary of State but now draws support from Tea Party conservatives as well, indicated she would not support McConnell for leader if she were elected.

Pressed by The Hill this month whether she would back McConnell, Handel said Republicans “need new leadership” and that the minority leader’s voters “can make a determination for him.”

Handel’s rival in the Georgia Senate primary race, Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), who has served more than 20 years in Congress, declined Monday to commit to voting for McConnell.

“Jack Kingston is focused on communicating his record and his vision to the people of Georgia so we can elect a proven, tested conservative to turn back [Democratic Leader] Harry Reid’s liberal agenda,” Chris Crawford, Kingston’s spokesman, told The Hill when asked whether his boss supports McConnell serving another term as leader.

via Candidates won’t commit to McConnell | TheHill.