Alaska's Conservative Patriots Group, a political advocacy group affiliated with the Tea Party movement, has withdrawn its endorsement of Republican lieutenant governor candidate Mead Treadwell.

The group's endorsement of Treadwell surprised many who would have expected the CPG to give its blessing instead to former talk radio host Eddie Burke, a supporter of the Tea Party movement since its birth in the wake of the 2008 election. Burke told the Anchorage Press he thought CPG had "been misled and duped" into supporting Treadwell, and the group's members debated the issue on the CPG blog, criticizing Treadwell's support of Sen. Lisa Murkowski, belief in climate change, and donations to Anchorage Assembly members Sheila Selkregg and Matt Claman. There were also complaints that the group's leadership had made the endorsement without doing proper research or consulting with the membership.

"This flip-flop decision, without doing the necessary research & verification, has unfortunately put a fair amount of egg on the face of the Committee as well as CPG as a whole," one user commented.

Treadwell issued a release Wednesday afternoon responding to the withdrawal of CPG's endorsement and defending his support of Murkowski, who he said the group has "chosen to demonize."

"I went into the vetting process believing that CPG was vetting me on my merits, not on my view of the merits of others," Treadwell's release reads.

Treadwell said he would also be able to work with Joe Miller, Murkowski's CPG- and Tea Party Express-endorsed challenger, although he criticized CPG for "condition(ing) its choice of candidates ... on support they might provide for other candidates."

"While their action is not a setback for me, it is a setback for the CPG because it makes them look like a single-interest front group for Joe Miller's Senate race, rather than the broad ‘tea party' coalition I admire which is trying to bring back limited government in America.  They may claim to speak for conservatives, but as a single interest group, they can't."

Miller's name is featured prominently in large letters at the top of a list of endorsed candidates on CPG's website. The group has also endorsed Sheldon Fisher, a challenger to Republican U.S. Rep. Don Young, although it has not announced an endorsement in the governor's race. A footnote at the bottom of the list reads, simply, "CPG has withdrawn its endorsement of Mead Treadwell."