Chart: How Have the 2010 Tea Party Candidates Fared?
A crop of Tea Party candidates have been shaking up primaries and special election contests this cycle. But how have they actually fared in the contests that
Jul 31, 2020107.8K Shares2.3M Views
A crop of Tea Party candidates have been shaking up primaries and special election contests this cycle. But how have they actually fared in the contests that have already been held? Below is our chart of how a select group of Tea Partiers have done in their elections thus far, including last night’s Tea Party-rich primaries:
Electoral Results of 2010 Tea Party Candidates — through June 8*
Candidate Race Outcome What Happened Sharron Angle Nev. Sen Primary Won Opponent Sue Lowden’s gaffes helped boost Angle’s campaign Mo Brooks Ala. 5 Primary Won Brooks easily defeated party switcher Parker Griffith Scott Brown Mass. Sen Special Won Brown’s special election win in Ted Kennedy’s old seat was the first major Tea Party victory this cycle — even if Brown has since disappointed TPers with his votes and TP snubs Tim Crawford (D) Ind. 5 Primary Won One of the few Democrats with TP support, Crawford won the primary by about 20 percentage points Chuck DeVore Calif. Sen Primary Lost DeVore never gained traction with the masses and couldn’t muster the finances to remain competitive Tom Graves Ga. 9 Special Won With the help of Tea Party groups, Graves easily bested fellow Republican Lee Hawkins Nikki Haley S.C. Gov Primary Survived Buoyed by Tea Partiers, even an alleged affair couldn’t drag her campaign down, but Haley still faces a runoff Doug Hoffman (C) N.Y. 23 Special Lost Hoffman won prominent GOP support despite his third-party affiliation, but the GOP candidate dropped out too late to consolidate support behind Hoffman Pat Hughes and Don Lowery Ill. Sen Primary Lost x2 Hughes and Lowery, both TPers, were no match for Rep. Mark Kirk, who had party establishment support Raul Labrador Idaho 1 Primary Won Labrador bested establishment favorite Vaughn Ward Mike Lee Utah Sen Convention Survived Lee and Tim Bridgewater both place ahead of Sen. Bob Bennett to oust him at the GOP convention, but now Lee faces a primary against 1st-place finisher Bridgewater Rand Paul Ky. Sen Primary Won By virtue of his father, Rand Paul entered the race a Tea Party icon and defeated party fave Trey Grayson Marlin Stutzman and John Hostettler Ind. Sen Primary Lost x2 Stutzman and Hostettler, both TP candidates, split the vote, clearing the way for a primary win by former Sen. Dan Coats Pat Toomey Pa. Sen Primary Won A national conservative figure, Toomey easily won his primary race Bob Vander Plaats Iowa Gov Primary Lost Conservatives expressed ire for Sarah Palin’s endorsement of Terry Branstad over Vander Plaats, but it failed to play out in the primary *Candidates are Republicans unless otherwise noted. List is not comprehensive.
Jimm Phillips contributed to this chart.
Paula M. Graham
Reviewer
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