Romney gets CRA endorsement

Former Massachussetts Gov. Mitt Romney on Sunday picked up the endorsement of the California Republican Assembly, the most conservative wing of the party, for the Feb. 5 GOP presidential primary election..

At its annual convention in Sacramento, Romney _ nominated by conservative favorite former Assemblyman Tony Strickland _ received a two-thirds vote to win the group's backing.

“Mitt Romney has been steadily gaining support from conservatives throughout California,” said CRA President Mike Spence following the endorsement vote.

Strickland urged CRA members to vote for Romney as “the best candidate to fight for critical conservative issues and to defeat Hillary Clinton in November,.” the organization said in a release.

The CRA said Romney won 139 of 230 votes cast. Fred Thompson was second with 30 votes. Rudy Guiliani received 6 votes, with the other candidates rounding out the votes.

Romney won the outright endorsement on a second ballot, with a 148-73 vote over Thompson.