Kashkari backing Chavez for Boxer seat

The Republican field in next year’s U.S. Senate contest is still taking shape, but Neel Kashkari, the party’s 2014 candidate for governor, has thrown his support behind Assemblyman Rocky Chavez of Oceanside.

Chavez, who spent most of his career in the Marines, is mounting a long-shot campaign for Democrat Barbara Boxer’s Senate seat in a state that has largely shunned Republicans in statewide races in the last decade.

Kevin Faulconer, the mayor of San Diego, has also announced support for Chavez’s candidacy.

Kashkari, a former assistant U.S. Treasury secretary who finished 1.5 million votes behind Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown in November, said in a statement that California needs “experienced and tested leaders in Washington.”

“As a Marine colonel and a California Assembly member, Col. Chavez has the experience to effectively represent California in the United States Senate,” Kashkari said.