by Javier Manjarres

Republican Congressional candidate Ozzie deFaria has received the endorsement of U.S. Senator John McCain. deFaria is running in contested primary against Joe Kaufman and Karen Harrington.

deFaria has stated that his primary is really only between himself and Harrington, shunning Kaufman out of the equation. Harrington has also received significant endorsements from current members of Congress such as Congresswomen Michele Bachmann and Sandy Adams.  Both Harrington and deFaria have out raised Kaufman in total receipts, however Kaufman has raised more individual donations than deFaria, and Harrington has also outraised deFaria with individual donations by a margin of 2 to 1.

It will be interesting to see if this endorsement benefits deFaria’s campaign.  While deFaria has been campaigning as a staunch conservative Republican, McCain has long been considered a ‘RINO” Republican for his ‘open borders’ approach to illegal immigration (McCain-Kennedy) and his controversial campaign finance reform bill.(McCain-Feingold)

Here is a snippet of deFaria’s release from earlier today:

Senator McCain said: “We need more people with Ozzie deFaria’s business experience in the United States Congress. As a business leader who helped create thousands of jobs, Ozzie knows how to get America’s economic engine back on track. I am confident he will be a consistent conservative leader who will serve the American people with honor and integrity. It is imperative that we have highly qualified conservative candidates like Ozzie to challenge extreme liberals like Debbie Wasserman Schultz.”

Ozzie deFaria said: “I am truly honored and humbled to receive the support of Senator John McCain. He is an American hero who has always put our country first. His record fighting government waste and pork barrel spending is one I hope to emulate in the United States Congress. I look forward to working with Senator McCain in the coming years.”