Tea party group endorses Chachas

Wall Street banker John Chachas' stock just went up in the Republican primary contest for the U.S. Senate.

At least a tick.

The local Tea Party group Action is Brewing endorsed Chachas on Sunday, which was a surprise since the Reno-based movement had said it wasn't going to back anyone and just let voters decide.

But Debbie Landis, president of Action is Brewing, said she changed her mind because she didn't think the other candidates could beat Democrat incumbent Harry Reid in the fall. She also said Chachas is the smartest GOP candidate running during economic hard times when his financial abilities are needed.

"John Chachas is a committed, educated, informed strategic thinker who will be the problem solver we need," Landis wrote.

Chachas is an Ely native who came home to Nevada after 30 years away to run for the Senate. Dismissed as a carpetbagger by critics, Chachas has been far back in the polls behind front-runners Sue Lowden, Sharron Angle and Danny Tarkanian. He has spent more than $1 million of his own money on his campaign and has done well in GOP debates but still doesn't have high name recognition or a base of support.

Landis said her group also decided to endorse Chachas because of all the outside money pouring into the race. A Democratic Party front group has run ads against Lowden while the national Tea Party Express has been promoting its pick of Angle on the airwaves.

"We can no longer sit idly by while the national media, out of state money and national strategists, who don't know the candidates like we do, decide who will challenge Harry Reid," Landis wrote.

Action is Brewing represents about 6,000 people according to Landis. It's the most active Tea Party group in Nevada. It held the first U.S. Senate GOP debate and helped organize the "Showdown in Searchlight" event that attracted 8,000 to 10,000 people to Reid's hometown in late March to protest his bid for re-election.