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Bloomberg groups back GOP's Fitzpatrick and Meehan

WASHINGTON – Two political groups backed by billionaire Michael Bloomberg have thrown their support behind suburban Philadelphia Republican Congressmen Pat Meehan and Mike Fitzpatrick.

Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York and a lightning rod for criticism from the right, has vowed to support lawmakers who back tougher gun laws and centrists. Meehan, of Delaware County, and Fitzpatrick, of Bucks County, appear to match both priorities.

Bloomberg’s Independence USA political action committee, which supports centrists, plan to support Fitzpatrick as part of a national $25 million spending burst aiding candidates from both parties,

» READ MORE: the New York Times reported Tuesday

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Fitzpatrick (like Meehan) has voted for several key compromises in the House – including bills to avert the so-called fiscal cliff and end last year's government shutdown -- helping pass bipartisan deals over the objection of more hard-line Republicans who argued for strictly adhering to conservative principles.

Meehan and Fitzpatrick were previously named "Gun Sense Champions" by Everytown for Gun Safety, a Bloomberg-backed group aiming to combat the political might of the NRA. They were two of the only House Republicans who supported a bill sponsored by Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) and Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) to expand background checks for gun purchases.

The Bloomberg gun-control group also endorsed Sen. Cory Booker (D., N.J.) and two Philadelphia Democrats: U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah and Congressional candidate Brendan Boyle.

Fitzpatrick was previously backed by another group pushing for tougher gun laws, Americans for Responsible Solutions, founded by former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, a Democrat. Her organization made Fitzpatrick the first Republican in the country that it ran television ads for.

Fitzpatrick's Democratic challenger, Kevin Strouse, has said that the incumbent has offered only empty words on the background check plan but was part of a dysfunctional Congress that blocked the bill. The Toomey-Manchin bill did not get a House vote after it failed in the Senate.

Meehan's opponent, Democrat Mary-Ellen Balchunis, has made fighting gun violence one of her top campaign issues.

The NRA is supporting another local Republican, Chester County Commissioner Ryan Costello. Costello is running against Democrat Manan Trivedi in a Chester County-based district where U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.) is retiring.

You can follow Tamari on Twitter or email him at jtamari@phillynews.com.