MOBILE – The Alabama Patriots Tea Party group on Tuesday endorsed Republican first congressional district nominee Bradley Byrne.
Alabama Patriots Commander & Founder, Danny B. Joyner, said the mainstream media has disingenuously used the first congressional district race to stoke the “establishment vs. Tea Party” fire.
“The liberal media loves to stoke this narrative of establishment Republicans & Tea Party Republicans battling each other and give some hope to the Democrats in the 2014 elections,” Joyner said. “Let’s clarify something for those who do not understand the Tea Party and who they are and who they believe the RINOS are we are fighting. The reference to a runoff in a congressional race in south Alabama was between two Conservative, Christian, Constitutional men from different work & life experiences, but both and all the others who ran in the primary were Tea Party people. The liberals want to divide and conquer us but they will not succeed. We believe Bradley Byrne will represent us well in Washington and congratulate him in winning the Republican nomination.”
This morning’s endorsement comes on the heels of continued unrest among some of the supporters of Dean Young, who Byrne defeated last week in the Republican primary runoff. Although no national Tea Party organizations backed Young, many of his local supporters and the national media framed the primary fight as a “battle for the soul of the GOP” between the grassroots and business.
The race became so contentious that Young vowed to never vote for Byrne, even with Byrne now going up against a Democrat in the general election.
But it now appears that many people on both sides of the divide in this campaign are ready to push forward with a united front in the general election.
“I’m honored to receive the support of the Alabama Patriots Tea Party group,” said Bradley Byrne. “It’s time to unite our party and come together towards victory on December 17th.”
Byrne will meet Democrat Burton LeFlore in the AL-01 general election.
Follow Cliff on Twitter @Cliff_Sims
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