Coburn Endorses Virginia Senate Hopeful Allen

Sen. Tom Coburn on Thursday gave his backing to Virginia’s George Allen, who is trying to rejoin the upper chamber, six years after losing his re-election bid.

The Oklahoma senator praised Allen as someone who is “ready to fight Washington’s reckless spending.”

“I’m proud to announce my support for George Allen,” said Coburn. “He was one of only 14 senators who stood with me when I led the effort to eliminate funding for the infamous ‘Bridge to Nowhere.’ It didn’t make us popular with many of our colleagues but we did what was right.

“Future generations need leaders like George Allen stepping up today, so they won’t be forced to shoulder the burdens of Washington’s continued failures tomorrow,” he added.

Allen is favorite to win the Republican nomination in a June 12 primary. He sat in the Senate for one term before losing to Democrat Jim Webb in the 2006 election.

Webb is not standing for re-election and the Democrats have selected former Gov. Tim Kaine.

An NBC News/Marist poll released on Thursday gave Kaine a 6 percentage-point lead over Allen.