BY WESLEY P. HESTER

Instead of running against George Allen for the GOP nomination, Prince William Board of County Supervisors chairman Corey A. Stewart has endorsed him for the U.S. Senate.

Stewart, a Republican who had been hinting at a bid for the Senate for months, formally backed Allen in Prince William Tuesday morning.

“Corey Stewart is a strong, leading conservative voice in Virginia and I am honored to have his significant and important endorsement in a vitally important Prince William County,” Allen said.

If Allen, a former Virginia governor seeking to reclaim the Senate seat he lost to Jim Webb in 2006, does receive the nomination, Stewart’s blessing could help in largely blue Northern Virginia. Likewise, Allen’s appearance alongside Allen Tuesday could help Stewart pick up a few votes in his re-election bid.

“Prince William County has become the true political battleground of Virginia in state and federal elections,” Stewart said. “A resounding Republican victory next week will give us the momentum we need as we head into 2012 to elect George Allen to the United States Senate.”

He added: “George Allen is the best candidate to win next fall and I look forward to working with George and his campaign to spread his message of a common sense conservative approach to government.”

The praise is a distinct change in tone for Stewart, who battered Allen while debating a run of his own.

“George Allen says he’s for limited government, but this guy was one of the biggest government guys out there,” he told the Washington Post in January, shortly after Allen announced his bid.

Stewart has been consistent in his praise of Allen’s record as governor, but also consistent in his criticism of Allen’s term in the U.S. Senate.

Democrats were quick to leap, blasting both Stewart and Allen and pointing out the inconsistencies in Stewart’s remarks.

Liberal group American Bridge highlighted Stewart’s remarks to NBC Washington in January: “George Allen would be a terrible candidate for the Republican party in 2012. He’s got the baggage, he ran a poor campaign in 2006, and he never acted as a conservative when he was in the U.S. Senate. He’s always said one thing and then did another.”

Allen, the frontrunner for the GOP nomination, could face fellow former governor Timothy M. Kaine in a general election.