Tea Party gains steam with Cruz's victory

By Anna M. Tinsley

Editor's note: This story has been modified from its original version online and in print with the correct spelling of Sarah Palin's name.

The political aftershocks from Ted Cruz's convincing win in the Texas Republican runoff for U.S. Senate were felt across the nation Wednesday.

Tea Party leaders in Texas and beyond are touting the victory by Cruz, a campaign rookie, over veteran Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst as proof that their grassroots effort remains alive and well.

And, in Texas, the Tea Party's success is changing the state's political landscape, challenging the Republican Party's established leaders.

Tuesday night's stunner raises questions about the futures of Dewhurst, who lost to Cruz after leading him by 10 points in the primary, and Gov. Rick Perry, who campaigned actively against Cruz.

"This is a wake-up call for everyone in office in Texas and across the country," said Matt Mackowiak, a Republican strategist and former aide to Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who is vacating the seat that Cruz is heavily favored to win in November. "If it can be done here, it can be done anywhere."

Konni Burton, vice president for the Northeast Tarrant Tea Party and an avid Cruz supporter, said it's clear what her group and others like it want: politicians who govern as conservatives rather than just campaign like one.

"Our message is that we want elected officials with conservative principles. It doesn't matter who endorses you or backs you, necessarily. You've got to have the principles as well," Burton said.

"We are tired of the establishment picking who is next. We are saying we are going to pick the next elected official, not the establishment."

Meeting with reporters in Houston, Cruz said, "I think the Tea Party is one of the most incredible movements in politics in modern history.

"There are folks in the media that try to portray the Tea Party as radical and extreme. The Tea Party are everyday Texans, everyday Americans that believe in common-sense answers, living within our means, not spending more than we have and not saddling our kids and grandkids with a crushing debt," Cruz said.

Political impact

After Perry dropped his presidential bid earlier this year, some questioned whether the state's longest-serving governor would finish his term or resign his post and return to a private life. Perry said not only would he finish his term, but he might seek another four years as governor or launch a new presidential bid in 2016.

In this U.S. Senate race, Perry not only endorsed Dewhurst, but campaigned aggressively for him -- as Dewhurst had done for the governor during his presidential bid.

"Perry was appreciative of Dewhurst's loyalty when he ran for president," Mackowiak said. "For Perry, loyalty is big. I think Perry felt like he had no choice in this race."

But that may have come at a price.

"In the movement, there are many people who love Rick Perry and there are many who don't share that affection," said Burton, of the North East Tarrant Tea Party. "Those very much on board with Perry were really put out when he endorsed Dewhurst.

"I think he's done himself great damage," she said. "I heard one woman say that he threw the grassroots under the bus."

National political pundits were quick to label Perry the biggest loser in Tuesday's vote.

As for Dewhurst, once he announced his plans to run for the U.S. Senate, several Texas GOP officeholders announced that they would run for his post once his term expired in 2014. After Tuesday's election, Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson reaffirmed his plans to run for lieutenant governor in 2014, regardless what Dewhurst does.

Changing the party

Cruz's victory is considered stunning by many because Dewhurst, a well-known and well-funded veteran politician, was long considered the front-runner in this race.

Cruz still has to face Democrat Paul Sadler in November's general election, as well as Libertarian John Jay Myers. Cruz is considered the runaway favorite because Republicans haven't lost a statewide race in Texas in this century.

Observers say Tuesday's win was generated by a perfect storm -- Cruz generated support from grassroots supporters at a time when many were rooting for the underdog and against establishment candidates. And emotions continue to run high among detractors of Democratic President Barack Obama, especially those who oppose the nation's healthcare system, the Affordable Health Care Act.

All that came at a time when Cruz was able to capture the attention of, and support from, national Tea Party leaders including conservative Sens. Jim DeMint, Mike Lee and Rand Paul, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum, all of whom were willing to campaign for him in Texas.

He was able to raise money to compete in the race and pick up key financial support from groups such as the Club for Growth, a political committee of economic conservatives that alone bundled nearly $1 million to his campaign, and FreedomWorks for America, a national anti-tax grassroots group that was instrumental in the victory.

Grassroots power

"Ted Cruz's victory is the latest step in the 'Tea Party Hostile Takeover,' a larger national movement that goes beyond taking back the Republican majority in the Senate, to also replace our current misguided GOP incumbents with true fiscal conservatives," said Matt Kibbe, president of FreedomWorks. "The success of the Cruz campaign changes the playing field for contemporary political campaign strategy.

"Big money and television ads no longer put a candidate over the edge," he said. "Grassroots activists, armed with good ideas and hard work, will be the strongest and most effective force in the effort to fundamentally change the Republican Party from the inside out."

For some voters, the issue was as simple as being turned off by Dewhurst's political ads, which they characterized as more negative than Cruz's ads, because some got personal.

Dewhurst received more than 480,000 votes, falling far short of Cruz's 631,316. Among the areas where he found strong pockets of support were several Panhandle, East Texas and Central Texas counties.

Cruz found larger blocks of support in most metropolitan areas, including Tarrant County, where he earned nearly 61 percent of the vote, according to the secretary of state's office.

Looking ahead

Tarrant County Democratic Party Chairman Steve Maxwell said he is concerned about Cruz winning the GOP nomination.

"It signals that the takeover of the Republican Party in Texas by the extreme right-wing people who are totally out of touch with reality is now complete," he said during a news conference Wednesday.

Now, he said, Democratic candidates "will be reaching out to all Republican moderates and to independent voters who now have obviously been kicked out of the party. We welcome them to the Democratic Party."

Analysts say the Tea Party victory was not an isolated event.

"On the political Richter scale, Cruz's win last night scores an eight," Victoria M. DeFrancesco Soto, a fellow at the Center for Politics and Governance at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, wrote in an analysis.

"His victory is not an isolated incident, but the indication of the Tea Party taking root across local, state, and national government. Most importantly the broadening and deepening influence of the Tea Party is solidly built upon grassroots support ensuring that this seismic shift is not short lived."

This report includes material from The Associated Press.

Anna M. Tinsley, 817-390-7610

Twitter: @annatinsley

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