Sarah Palin endorses Dan Bongino's Senate bid

SEVERNA PARK, Md. -   Maryland Republican Senate candidate Dan Bongino is announcing he has been endorsed by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
 
   In a statement released Monday, Palin says political pundits often dismiss conservative candidates who are running in heavily Democratic states. But she says she doesn't believe in ignoring good candidates "simply because they're fighting uphill battles against the odds."
 
   Bongino is a former Secret Service agent who is running against Democratic incumbent Ben Cardin.
 
   Palin, who was Republican Sen. John McCain's running mate in 2008, also weighed in on Maryland's governor's race in 2010, when she endorsed Brian Murphy, who was a lesser-known candidate for the GOP nomination against former Gov. Robert Ehrlich. Ehrlich won the nomination but lost to Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley in the general election.