Despite James Dobson’s fervent endorsement of U.S. Rep. Ed Bryant in the Tennessee Republican primary against former Governor Lamar Alexander, Bryant lost the senatorial race.

Alexander won 54 percent of the primary vote, compared to Bryant’s 43 percent.

Twelve days before the primary, Dobson, head of Focus on the Family, endorsed Bryant in a hotly contested election in which Bryant portrayed himself as the solid conservative.

In a letter to Tennessee friends, Dobson said, “I am asking you as fervently as I can to vote in the primary election … for Ed Bryant.”

“I seldom make personal political endorsements, but Congressman Ed Bryant’s campaign for U.S. Senate in Tennessee is of such immense significance that I cannot sit idly by,” Dobson wrote. “His opponent, Lamar Alexander, has failed to raise his voice to defend these helpless little ones when it counts, despite what he may be saying on the campaign trail.”

Dobson wrote, “In fact, it has been politicians like Lamar Alexander, people who blow with the wind on the issues that matter, who have done our nation the greatest harm.”

Dobson’s endorsement was distributed in an effort to mobilize a conservative Christian vote for Bryant’s election.

“Please know that I am speaking only for myself and not the organization I lead,” Dobson said.

His endorsement appeared on stationery under the letterhead of James Dobson Inc., his privately held company.

Under the same letterhead, Dobson also endorsed Republican State Rep. Tony Perkins in the U.S. Senate race in Louisiana. That election will take place in November.

“I rarely make political endorsements, but I have made an exception in order to endorse Tony Perkins,” Dobson wrote.

He said Perkins was “the obvious choice” based upon his “strong commitment to protecting the rights of unborn children.”

Dobson noted that Perkins authored the Louisiana covenant marriage bill, which became law, and sponsored legislation to “guarantee children the right to pray in schools.”

Dobson has made no other endorsements to date, though more may be expected, EthicsDaily.com has learned.

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