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Politics 2014 Election Ben Sasse, Republican congressional candidate from Nebraska Tom WilliamsCQ-Roll Call/Getty Images

Elections are like any other job hunt: the key to getting selected is often to have the right people vouch for you. Intelligence and experience are wonderful attributes in a campaign. But if your opponent boasts connections to powerful people with fat wallets, all the town halls and policy papers in the world may not win you a ticket to Washington.

For Republican primaries candidates, some of the most coveted recommendations come from the cadre of national conservative groups whose money and reputation can lift an unknown challenger. Of all the conservative upstarts running in 2014, Ben Sasse of Nebraska has been among the best at winning their support.

Sasse, the 42-year-old president of Nebraskas Midland University, has piled up endorsements from groups like Club for Growth and the Senate Conservatives Fund, as well as from boldface names like Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee and House GOP star Paul Ryan. The endorsements have boosted Sasse in a competitive Republican primary to succeed retiring Republican Senator Mike Johanns.

Sasse needed it. His top competitor in the May 13 primary, former state treasurer and Navy aviator Shane Osborn, has the tacit support of key party power brokers, include Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. When FreedomWorksthe biggest national conservative group to endorse Osbornabruptly threw its support to Sasse in late March, the decision seemed to cement Sasses stature as the Tea Party choice.

But things are never so simple in the great Gordian knot of Republican politics.

On April 8, a coalition of 52 Nebraska conservatives released a letter stating that Sasse wasnt their guy. Sasse is NOT the choice of conservative, libertarian, and tea party movement activists and group leaders in Nebraska, they wrote. We are disappointed with the way DC organizations are telling Nebraskans what the Tea Party in Nebraska thinks.

In fact, the collection of national endorsements may count as a strike against Sasse back home, explains Faron Hines, a pest management technician from Thayer, Neb., and a member of the York County Tea Party. All of his endorsements are from out of state. Those big national groups dont represent the people of Nebraska, says Hines, who hasnt endorsed a candidate but says hes learning toward Osborn. That isnt the Nebraska way, and that does rile a few people. Who is he going to represent when he gets to Washington?

Sasses supporters dismiss the letter as an effort to stanch the momentum of a surging candidate. Its obviously from Osborn, says an adviser with one of the national groups backing Sasse. They needed to do something.

Osborns support is real: one recent poll showed him with a 35% to 24% edge. But Sasse has Tea Party support on the ground as well. (Two days after the missive against Sasse, more than 100 Nebraska conservatives signed a second letter singing his praises.) Yes, we have support outside the state, says Tyler Grassmeyer, Sasses campaign manager. But we also have the most support inside the state.

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Tea Party Divided In Nebraska Republican Senate Race