A source close to Todd Tiahrt's US Senate campaign tells me that by tomorrow (Thursday, October 29), the Tiahrt campaign will announce the endorsement of Indiana Congressman Mike Pence.  

Tiahrt's primary challenger is fellow Kansas Congressman Jerry Moran.

My understanding is that Pence is the only member of the current House Republican leadership to remain neutral and NOT endorse liberal Republican nominee Dede Scozzafava, who is running against Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman in this Tuesday's special Congressional election in New York's 23rd Congressional District.  Doug Hoffman's supporters include Todd Tiahrt, Fred Thompson, former NRCC Chairman Tom Cole, Sarah Palin, Jim DeMint, and Tim Pawlenty.

Repeated polling by SurveyUSA has shown Moran with a lead among August 2010 primary voters, but there are a sizeable number of undecided voters, and I expect the race to tighten and be very competitive.

Congressman Pence (right) is serving his a fifth term in the US House and was elected House Republican Conference Chairman in 2008.  From Pence's Web site:  

During the 109th Congress, Congressman Pence served as Chairman of the House Republican Study Committee. The Republican Study Committee is the largest caucus in the House of Representatives; membership grew to 110 House Republicans under his leadership, and has been the leading voice for advancing conservative social and economic issues in Congress since the mid-1980s.

More on Congressman Pence:  

In November of 2007, Congressman Pence was named one of the top 20 most influential conservatives in America, coming in at nineteen according to the London Daily Telegraph.  On Martin Luther King Day in January 2007, he was honored with the Duerson Award during a ceremony in Muncie. The award is named for former Chicago Bear and Muncie native Dave Duerson's parents and is given for extraordinary commitment to the community.  The ACU honored Congressman Pence in 2006 with the Courage Under Fire Award, which recognizes those who have stood for principle when doing so puts them at risk physically, politically or economically. Past recipients include Charlton Heston, Wayne LaPierre, and Ambassador John Bolton.

In 2005, Congressman Pence was named "Man of the Year" by the leading conservative publication Human Events for his leadership on behalf of fiscal discipline. Previous honorees include President Ronald Reagan and the late Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia.

______________________________________________________________

Benjamin Hodge publishes the Web site KansasProgress.com, based in Johnson County, KS, in the Greater Kansas City area.  Hodge is a delegate to the Kansas GOP, a former state representative, and a former trustee at Johnson County Community College. You can join Hodge’s efforts on Facebook, through his personal Web site, on Twitter, and through his PAC.