Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) on Thursday diverged from her tea party base and endorsed ex-Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, who is vying for the GOP nomination to run against Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).

Fiorina in running in the June 8 primary against state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore and former Rep. Tom Campbell for the opportunity to try to unseat Boxer. But Palin took to Facebook on Thursday afternoon to endorse Fiorina over the other contenders in “Reagan Country,” and in the process took a shot at Campbell, although she didn’t refer to him by name.

“I’m a huge proponent of contested primaries, so I’m glad to see the contest in California’s GOP,” Palin wrote. “But I support Carly as she fights through a tough primary against a liberal member of the GOP who seems to bear almost no difference to Boxer, one of the most leftwing members of the Senate.”

Recent polling has shown Campbell, who has run statewide before and is considered a social moderate, leading the Republican field. DeVore is claiming the conservative mantle in the race and has been endorsed by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and the Tea Party Express.

Palin did not specifically mention that Fiorina was once the CEO of HP, she but pointed more generally to her business bona fides, writing that Fiorina worked her way up from a modest upbringing to reach the pinnacle in “an arena where few women tread.”

“She proved the naysayers wrong to reach the top of her field, where she led with distinction — facing hard truths, making tough decisions, and showing real leadership through a rocky transition period,” Palin wrote. “Where others had failed, her company had weathered the storm and settled on a stronger new foundation.”

Palin said Fiorina is a common-sense, Reagan conservative, and pointed out that she is not a career politician, an important distinction in a race against a former Member and a current state Assemblyman.

“I am honored and grateful to have Sarah Palin’s support. She, too, is a political outsider and a strong fiscal conservative, and we share a common concern for the direction our country is headed in under Barbara Boxer and her allies in Washington,” Fiorina said in a statement. “Californians across the state have had enough of Washington insiders and their political games, and together, I am confident we will help restore integrity to our nation’s capital by bringing Barbara Boxer’s 28-year career to an end.”