Senate races

Santorum endorses Handel in Georgia

Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) is endorsing former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel (R) in her bid for the Republican Senate nomination.

{mosads}”I am pleased to announce our endorsement of Karen Handel for the U.S. Senate in Georgia,” Santorum said in a statement.

“She is a committed conservative who has an undisputed record of fighting for pro-life causes,” he continued. “Karen will fight to repeal ObamaCare, cut spending and stop the heavy-handedness of the Obama Administration that is killing job creation in this country.”

The endorsement is Santorum’s latest backing a challenger fighting an uphill battle. Handel, though, has a better shot at making it out of a crowded primary field and into a runoff than some of Santorum’s other recent endorsees have of winning their primaries.

He’s also backed Senate underdogs in Iowa and Oregon in recent days.

Handel is battling it out with businessman David Perdue (R) and Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) for two spots in the runoff following Tuesday’s primary. Reps. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) and Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) are also in the race.

Handel also has the backing of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) and RedState’s Erick Erickson.