Rep. Paul Broun, the Georgia Republican who lost a Senate primary  in May, endorsed pastor Jody Hice in the July 22 runoff to replace him.  

Broun had stayed out of the GOP primary in the 10th District until now, saying he did not want to anoint a successor. But in a Monday radio interview in Georgia, Broun said recent events pushed him to support Hice over businessman Mike Collins in the July 22 runoff .  

“Just recently Mike Collins has rejected and repudiated my simple four-way test. … Jody Hice has pledged that he is going to use that same four-way test as he evaluates legislation and Mike Collins just recently said that he rejects that test,” Broun said on Georgia’s Morning News with Zoller & Bryant .  

“[Collins] has just recently said that he will vote to raise the debt ceiling. We are stealing money from our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren and we’re robbing them of their future and Mike Collins said he will continue to do so,” Broun added. “And he’s also said that he is all in favor of working with the leadership to do whatever the leadership wants and I’ve been fighting the leadership.”  

Hice came in first by a few hundred votes in the May 20 GOP primary in this district — a strong Republican seat located in the Atlanta exurbs. In Georgia, if no candidate gets 50 percent of the primary vote, the race proceeds to a runoff.  

Hice has made controversial remarks in the past, including that Islam should not be protected by the First Amendment, and that women should run for office only with their husband’s permission .  

Collins is the son of former Rep. Mac Collins, R-Ga., and owns a successful trucking company. He received the endorsements of former Georgia Senate candidate Karen Handel, former Sen. Rick Santorum , R-Pa., and former Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga.  

The two face off in what is expected to be a low-turnout runoff — the winner of which is nearly assured to come to Congress. GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney carried the district with 63 percent in 2012.  

Georgia’s 10th District is rated a Safe Republican contest by Rothenberg Political Report/Roll Call.  

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