The Tea Party has reshaped the political debate in Virginia over the past several years, but it has struggled to gain an electoral foothold in the Old Dominion. Jamie Radtke, who stepped down as chairwoman of the Tea Party Patriots Federation late last year to run for the U.S. Senate, is looking to change that.
“I think we’re doing all the right things,” she said. “I’ve been very pleased with what we’ve been able to accomplish starting from scratch.”
In 2010, the Tea Party helped fuel a national Republican wave at the polls, and played a key role in ousting three Democratic representatives in Virginia along the way.
But freshmen GOP Reps. Morgan Griffith, Robert Hurt and Scott Rigell all felled Tea Party-backed opponents on their way to their respective Republican nominations in 2010.
Mark Lloyd, who now chairs the Virginia Tea Party Patriots Federation, described 2010 as a “year of learning” for the movement.
“I think a lot of people had higher hopes” that weren’t reached, he said.
Though Griffith, Hurt and Rigell knocked out Tea Party opponents, they have largely supported the movement’s small-government agenda since taking their seats in the House. Hurt and Griffith took some flak for supporting temporary funding measures that kept the federal government open — something the Tea Party opposed — though all three voted against a final compromise budget that contained only about half the spending cuts Tea Party activists sought.
“They all had huge encouragement from the Tea Party,” Radtke said. “I think we’ve had a tremendous impact on shaping the debate,”
Nevertheless, the movement is still looking for one of its own to run — and win.
“They still haven’t shown that they have the numbers to produce what could be described as a Tea Party candidate in this state,” said Dan Palazzolo, a political science professor at the University of Richmond.
And Radtke faces a tall order in taking on former Gov. and Sen. George Allen for the GOP nomination. Allen maintains that he’s already made inroads with members of the Virginia Tea Party.
“If Radtke beats Allen, it’s going to be more than the Tea Party that does it,” Palazzolo said. “Elections are won by building coalitions.”
The GOP Senate field is already crowded, with other conservative stalwarts like Del. Bob Marshall, R-Prince William, and Prince William Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart also weighing runs. Either Marshall or Stewart could siphon votes away from Radtke.
But there’s still a long way to go before the 2012 primary.
“I think Allen’s obviously a flawed candidate,” Palazzolo said. “I wouldn’t underestimate” Radtke.
