A leading tea party group Thursday took on “the GOP establishment” for “abandoning a winnable race in a key swing state by withholding support” for Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli.
Mr. Cuccinelli, a staunch conservative, lost the Virginia’s governor’s race to Democrat Terry McAuliffe by under 3 percentage points Tuesday, leading to intra-Republican recriminations about whether the national party hung the state attorney general out to dry.
“Because the Republican establishment cut funding to its own candidate by two-thirds from the 2009 election, they robbed the people of Virginia of the good governor they almost had,” said Jenny Beth Martin, national coordinator for Tea Party Patriots.
The group noted that Mr. Cuccinelli had been the first state attorney general to file suit against Obamacare, the contentious health care law that’s been a rallying point for Republicans for three years.
“Just think what would have happened if the business and donor classes of the Republican Party would have helped,” Ms. Martin said.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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