Ballot-Qualified TEA Party Fares Poorly in Florida Midterms
TEA Party Logo
The ballot-qualified TEA Party, also known by its detractors as the “fake” Tea Party, fared poorly in Florida’s November 2, 2010 midterm elections.
The TEA Party has been thought by some observers to be part of a plot involving controversial figures Doug Guetzloe, Fred O’Neal, Congressman Alan Grayson (who lost his re-election bid) and other notorious figures to siphon conservative voters away from Republican candidates, as discussed in an earlier post on this blog. In the end, the TEA Party candidates garnered relatively few votes and had scant effect on the outcomes of the races they each ran in. Few of the TEA Party candidates did anything more than qualify for the ballot and after the blogoshere exposed the scheme, it may actually have caused votes that would have otherwise gone to the Democrats to be cast as “TEA Party” protest votes, compounding the overall losses suffered by the Democratic Party in this election.
The results of every contest in which a TEA Party candidate ran, are as follows:
U.S. Congress District 8
Daniel Webster (R) 123,464 (56.13%)
Alan Grayson (D) (Incumbent) 84,036 (38.20%)
Peg Dunmire (TEA) 8,324 (3.78%)
George Metcalfe (NPA) 4,140 (1.88%)
U.S. Congress District 12
Dennis A. Ross (R) 100,873 (48.14%)
Lori Edwards (D) 86,053 (41.07%)
Randy Wilkinson (TEA) 22,616 (10.79%)
U.S. Congress District 25
David Rivera (R) 72,577 (52.41%)
Joe Garcia (D) 58,625 (42.33%)
Craig Porter (FWP) 3,114 (2.25%)
Roly Arrojo (TEA) 4,169 (3.01%)
State Commissioner of Agriculture
Adam Putnam (R) 2,835,786 (56.15%)
Scott Maddox (D) 1,914,313 (37.90%)
Ira Chester (TEA) 199,352 (3.95%)
Thad Hamilton (NPA) 101,026 (2.00%)
State Senate District 2
Greg Evers (R) 99,720 (79.32%)
Christopher Crawford (TEA) 26,002 (20.68%)
Margaret M. Smith (WRI) 00 (0%)
State House District 11
Elizabeth Porter (R) 29,512 (53.92%)
Debbie Boyd (D) (Incumbent) 22,018 (40.23%)
John Ferentinos (TEA) 3,199 (5.85%)
State House District 34
Chris Dorworth (R) 21,843 (52.42%)
Steve Barnes (D) 17,162 (41.19%)
John DeVries (TEA) 2,665 (6.40%)
State House District 35
Dean Cannon (R) (Incumbent) 22,989 (57.91%)
Amy Mercado (D) 15,860 (39.95%)
Juanita “Nina” Virone (TEA) 850 (2.14%)
State House District 38
Bryan Nelson (R) (Incumbent) 31,002 (81.98%)
James “Heinie” Heinzelman 6,814 (18.02%)
State House District 40
Eric Eisnaugle (R) (Incumbent) 24,901 (60.46%)
Todd Christian (D) 14,777 (35.88%)
Darin Richard Dunmire (TEA) 1,505 (3.65%)
State House District 41
Steve Precourt (R) (Incumbent) 36,833 (57.52%)
Lee Douglas (D) 24,307 (37.96%)
Jon Foley (TEA) 2,892 (4.52%)
State House District 51
Larry Ahern (R) 22,703 (50.32%)
Janet Long (D) (Incumbent) 19,912 (44.14%)
Victoria Torres (TEA) 2,499 (5.54%)
State House District 73
Matt Caldwell (R) 23,554 (58.58%)
Cole Peacock (D) 15,421 (38.35%)
Raul Rodriguez (TEA) 1,232 (3.06%)
State House District 79
Mike Horner (R) (Incumbent) 24,378 (60.84%)
Eddie Freeman (D) 13,199 (32.94%)
Jose Alvarez (TEA) 2,489 (6.21%)
Danny Davis (WRI) 00 (0%)
State House District 96
Ari Porth (D) (Incumbent) 23,718 (71.34%)
Jason Weakley (TEA) 9,527 (28.66%)
State House District 115
Jose Diaz (R) 21,681 (63.73%)
Jeffrey “Doc” Solomon (D) 11,263 (33.11%)
Christopher Blau (TEA) 1,075 (3.16%)
State House District 119
Frank Artiles (R) 14,351 (52.19%)
Katie Edwards (D) 11,922 (43.35%)
Nestor Iglesias (TEA) 932 (3.39%)
Graziella Denny (NPA) 294 (1.07%)
State House District 120
Ron Saunders (D) (Incumbent) 21,792 (55.47%)
Morgan McPherson (R) 15,293 (38.93%)
Henry Llorella (TEA) 2,198 (5.60%)
