Sen. Roy Blunt (PoliticMo Photo/Natalie Preston)
— Three Missouri Republicans hoping to be elected to the U.S. Senate next year would not announce whether they support fellow Missourian Roy Blunt’s bid for Senate leadership.
Spokesmen for U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, former State Treasuerer Sarah Steelman, and St. Louis businessman John Brunner all declined to say whether the candidates endorse Blunt’s campaign for Republican Conference vice chairman against Tea Party favorite Sen. Ron Johnson on Tuesday.
Brunner said that Blunt is “a friend” and wished him luck in his election, but said he is focused on “issues that Missourians care about.”
“As I’ve traveled all over the state Missourians are telling me they are concerned about jobs and the economy,” Brunner said in an statement to PoliticMo. “Not one person has mentioned they are concerned about a leadership election in Washington where nobody running for U.S. Senate in Missouri has a vote.”
A spokesman for Akin said he had “no comment” on Blunt’s election, and a spokesman for Steelman said her campaign “hasn’t even paid attention to it.”
In Wisconsin, Johnson’s home state, two of the three Republicans running for Senate said they support Johnson’s leadership bid. (UPDATE: The third Republican was uncommital.)
The race is being framed as a race between the Tea Party and establishment wings of the Republican party, the Tea Party supporting Johnson and the establishment supporting Blunt. Outside voices like Freedom Works and the widely-read conservative blogger Erik Erickson have announced their support of Johnson. Inside the Senate, at least 14 Senators, including Marco Rubio and Rand Paul, have issued public support for Johnson.
The vote, taken by secret ballot, will take place Tuesday at the Republican Conference’s weekly lunch. According to Washington newspaper Roll Call, the winner will need support from at least 24 of 47 Republican Senators.
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Correction: An earlier version of this article miscounted the number of Republican Senate candidates in Wisconsin.
email: eli [at] politicmo.com | phone: 417.597.3873 | twitter: @eyokley 
I am from Missouri, the Show-Me state and although I like Johnson, I will be backing Blunt. He has vast experience and although I appreciate the TEA Party movement, I think a TEA Party leader would put Johnson in a box. I am extremely opposed to Freedom Works who are openly working again Gov. Romney’s nomination for president. I don’t trust that organization to look at the big picture as Sen. Blunt is quite often able to do. I think Sen. Blunt would be billing to work with the other side more easily than Johnson who would be beholden to the TEA Party and their narrow-minded rhetoric. THe contensciousness promoted by PRes. Obama in DC has got to stop.
We may have disagreements with Roy Blunt but nobody with common sense should question the fact that a leader of the Senate is in a powerful position to serve the interests of his home state. We send Senators to DC to REPRESENT our interests not to spout endless theory… those who rise to important positions can certainly do it better than those who don’t. How about acquiring some common sense. We should support Roy Blunt for Senate Leader! Yes, it may be looking out for our own interest but that’s basically what politics is all about… and NO it isn’t being “greedy” to look out for one’s own interests!… time to grow up, stop the theorizing and realize what life is all about.