As we’ve reported, a big question for 2010 is, does the tea party movement really intend to derail the Republican Party in what could be a big year for the GOP?
The answer from Texas appears to be, Yes. Candidate filing in Texas closed on Monday, giving us one of the earliest looks at what the 2010 field might look like across the country. And in the Republican stronghold of Texas there will be a big field full of “anti-establishment” conservatives. Around 20 candidates identifying with the Tea Party movement are running for Congress in Texas, most of them against Republicans.
More than half of the Republican incumbents in Texas face primary opponents who claim to be affiliated with the Tea Party movement. That includes big names in Republican conservatives like Rep. Pete Sessions and even Rep. Ron Paul.The tea partiers are taking on NRCC-selected candidates in elections where the seats are held by Democrats, making it tougher for the GOP to focus on flipping the seats to their side.
Not all the tea party candidates will be legitimate contenders, of course. In every cycle, outsider candidates from all sides of the spectrum often mount bids with little or no chance of victory. But the fact that so many of these candidates identify themselves with the tea party movement — and are running specifically against the “establishment” GOP — confirms that many Republicans will have to placate the tea party before they take on Democrats in general election races.
The Dallas Morning News gave this look at the tea party candidates 11 of Texas’ 20 Republican House incumbents are facing:
Many of the challengers want little more than to vent, shake up the GOP and prod Washington toward fiscal responsibility. If they win, so much the better. Others want it all: a GOP purified by combat and reborn ideologically.
The Republican establishment isn’t worried, so far. An NRCC spokeswoman told the Dallas paper that the incumbents “aren’t going to lose any sleep over” the tea partiers they face, calling them “minor candidates.”
But the establishment is also facing tea party opposition to the nominees national Republicans are hoping will beat Democratic representatives in the Lone Star State. In the 17th District, the NRCC is backing Bill Flores, a prominent Waco-area businessman. The national GOP says Flores gives them the best shot to defeat the incumbent Rep. Chet Edwards (D), but Flores is facing opposition from tea partier Timothy Delasandro, who claims the establishment choice isn’t conservative enough.
The big money candidates like Flores will get from the national party is hard to beat, but the connection to the national tea party movement could give longshot candidates like Delasandro the funding they need to mount a serious challenge.
