Influential Conservative Group Endorses Lugar Challenger

The re-election path for six-term Indiana Republican Sen. Richard Lugar may be getting harder.

The Club for Growth, an influential conservative anti-tax advocacy group, announced today that it was endorsing Lugar's primary opponent, Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock. And the snub comes from a fellow Hoosier, no less—Club for Growth president Chris Chocola, a former congressman from northern Indiana.

[See a collection of political cartoons on the Republican party.]

"The Club for Growth PAC has watched Indiana for a long time. We looked for signs that Lugar had changed his ways, but we found none. Sadly, when it comes to solving our nation's dire fiscal problems, Dick Lugar is not the answer; he's part of the cause," Chocola said in a post at the National Review.

Lugar, the former mayor of Indianapolis, is one of the longest-serving members of Congress, and one of the most respected by his peers, especially on matters of foreign policy. But his tendency to buck party leadership—and votes in favor of Obama's Supreme Court nominees—have made him a target for the Tea Party movement. In his editorial, Chocola cited Lugar's opposition of an earmark ban as the "final straw" for the Club of Growth.

[Dems Tout GOP Payroll Tax Plan as Political Victory.]

It's one more piece of bad news for Lugar. Recently, he's been hounded by reports that he hasn't lived in Indiana for decades—which is legally allowed, but yet more ammo for his conservative opponents. But despite the controversy, Lugar's internal polling shows him to be well ahead of his challenger.

• See photos of the GOP candidates.
• Opinion: Tea Party harming GOP Senate prospects.
• See political cartoons about the Tea Party.

aparker@usnews.com

Twitter: @AlexParkerDC