Tea Party Express backs Idaho Republican after Rep. Minnick rejects endorsement

The Tea Party Express, which threw its support behind Rep. Walt Minnick (D-Idaho) earlier this year, announced Friday that it's now backing Minnick's Republican challenger, Raul Labrador.

Minnick rebuffed the group's backing in July, after a controversy over a racially-charged blog post written by former Tea Party Express Chairman Mark Williams. 

The group said it has re-evaluated Minnick's positions over the past three months and decided that he has bowed to pressure from the Democratic leadership. 

"During the Primary Election campaign the Tea Party Express had endorsed Congressman Minnick for re-election in light of his independence in standing up to significant items in President Obama's agenda," Tea Party Express spokesman Levi Russell said in a statement Friday. "Since then, Congressman Minnick has engaged in a pattern of behavior which shows he is more responsive to the Democrat Party's establishment than he is the voters of Idaho."

The group noted that Minnick hasn't expressed support for repealing healthcare, and added: "He refuses to say he will vote against [House Speaker Nancy Pelosi] in the next session of Congress despite how abundantly clear her liberal agenda has become to everyone it seems but Congressman Minnick." 

But Minnick is one of several embattled House Democrats who have indicated that he may not back Pelosi again as House Speaker should Democrats retain control of Congress this fall. 

Minnick, who was originally thought to be one of the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents in 2010 given his heavily conservative Idaho district, now appears poised to survive the expected Republican wave next month. 

He outraised Labrador in the third quarter, and his GOP challenger has struggled to gain traction despite the Republican-friendly district.