The Tea Party Movement and the 2012 House Election

This article reviews the electoral fortunes of Tea Party candidates for the House of Representative in 2012. Tea Party and Tea Party endorsed candidates are similar to other Republican candidates. Although they have served in the House for a shorter period of time, they have approximately the same financial resources, prior political experience and reelection rate as other Republicans. Multivariate analysis finds that Tea Party membership and endorsement has no significant impact on electoral outcome when other factors (incumbency, running for an open seat, quality of opposing candidate, prior political experience, financial resources and Obama’s vote) are controlled for. Consequently, the success of Tea Party candidates depends upon acquiring the traditional political resources, having weak opponents and running in favorably disposed constituencies rather than belonging to this highly visible political movement.