Uh, not so fast...of the three candidates in the race, she had the least institutional tea party support.
The most high-profile tea party groups lined up behind her opponents, with Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and his Senate Conservatives Fund (along with the Club for Growth) lining up behind state Treasurer Don Stenberg, and the Tea Party Express, Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum backing state Attorney General Jon Bruning. She was an afterthought in that equation, and only got Sarah Palin’s and Herman Cain’s backing in recent days.
Any idea why Tea Party backed Bruning? I would have understood Stenberg, but Bruning?