Mark Levin endorses Alabama rep in Senate race

Conservative radio host Mark Levin endorsed Rep. Mo Brooks’s Senate campaign, touting the Alabama Republican’s conservative bona fides among a crowded GOP field.

Brooks jumped into the race last month. He’ll be seeking the GOP nomination against Sen. Luther Strange (R-Ala.), who was appointed to the seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions earlier this year.

“Mo Brooks is a stand-out,” said Levin, who is host of “The Mark Levin Show.” “He’s a reliable conservative and, ladies and gentlemen, we need more reliable, principled conservatives. Not Re-puke-blicans, I mean Republicans.

{mosads}“I think Mo Brooks would be an excellent United States senator from the state of Alabama.”

Brooks is an outspoken member of Congress and was elected during the 2010 Tea Party wave. He’s considered one of the leading contenders in Alabama’s special election.

Levin isn’t Brooks’s only conservative endorsement. He also garnered support from Alabama Patriots, which is a state Tea Party group.

Alabama’s special election was initially scheduled for 2018, but the new governor moved it to late this year.

Strange was appointed in February by then-Gov. Robert Bentley (R) and has the backing of the GOP establishment.

The Senate GOP campaign arm said it’s treating the former state attorney general as an incumbent, and a super PAC with ties to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced a TV ad campaign supporting Strange.

But Strange is likely to face a tough battle for the GOP nomination due to his involvement in a convoluted investigation of Bentley, who resigned in April amid a sex scandal.

Brooks is one of 11 Republicans who filed to run in the Aug. 15 primary. Eight Democrats have filed, but the ruby-red seat is expected to stay in GOP hands. The general election is scheduled for Dec. 12.

The winner of the special election will serve out the remainder of Sessions’s term, which ends in 2020.