Angle wins Club for Growth endorsement in U.S. Senate race

In real estate it’s location, location, location. In politics it’s money, money, money. And Sharron Angle is about to get more, which she’ll need in the close Republican primary in the U.S. Senate race.

The conservative Club for Growth Political Action Committee on Wednesday endorsed Angle. And the group pledged to start spending money to help her win the June 8 primary – and defeat Democrat U.S. Sen. Harry Reid in November – if she pulls off a surprising come-from-behind victory.

The Washington-based PAC didn’t reveal how much it would spend, but the last time the Club for Growth backed Angle in 2006, the group said it helped raise $900,000 for her failed bid to beat Republican Rep. Dean Heller in what turned into a close contest she lost by about 400 votes.

Given the high stakes in the U.S. Senate race  — and the Club for Growth’s multi-million-dollar fund-raising prowess — Angle could expect to see a six-figure financial lift once again.

“Sharron Angle is everything a pro-growth, limited-government, economic conservative can be, and everything Washington and the country need right now,” said Club for Growth President Chris Chocola. “She was the undisputed fiscal conservative leader in the Nevada State Assembly, and she has the courage and skill to step into the same role in the U.S. Senate.”

Angle already is benefiting from the money-bomb endorsement of the national Tea Party Express, whose PAC has spent more than $300,000 in radio and TV ads to promote the former Reno Assemblywoman as “the best conservative candidate” in the race. The group has said it is trying to raise more than $500,000 for Angle during the primary contest.

Since the Tea Party endorsed Angle on April 15, she has shot up in the polls, making the GOP primary a three-person race with Sue Lowden in the lead and Danny Tarkanian close behind.

Although Angle has racked up more than two dozen conservative endorsements, some of the groups have suggested they will back whichever GOP nominee emerges because their real goal is to take down the Senate Majority Leader Reid on Nov. 2.

The Tea Party Express, for example, put out a “clarification” news release Tuesday to say that although Angle is the group’s top pick, if she doesn’t win the June 8 primary the organization will back either Lowden, a Las Vegas casino executive, or Las Vegas businessman Tarkanian, against Reid.

Polls show all three top GOP contenders could beat Reid if the election were held now.

“Obviously we believe Sharron Angle is the best candidate to represent the values of the Tea Party movement,” said Joe Wierzbicki, coordinator of the Tea Party Express, but he added that both Lowden and Tarkanian have shown strong support for the anti-big government movement, too.

“We will absolutely support either Sue Lowden or Danny Tarkanian if they, and not Sharron Angle, should somehow win the Republican nomination for the Senate,” Wierzbicki said.