Republican Party Applauds, Funds Lawsuit Against TEA Candidates

A Tampa Tea Party activist, with financial support from the Republican Party of Florida, is suing to remove four Florida TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party candidates from the ballot.

Don Hensarling alleged that the TEA political party appears to be an organized effort to confuse and mislead conservative voters and is not a part of the real Tea Party movement."

RPOF Chairman John Thrasher applauded the legal action, saying the party was "happy to provide financial assistance to this legal challenge with the hope that these lawsuits will answer the plethora of questions surrounding these candidates, increasing transparency and most importantly protecting Florida voters from inadvertently supporting candidates who dont reflect their values.

Responding to questions about monetary support, RPOF spokeswoman Katie Gordon Betta said, "The litigation was just filed so we dont yet have a specific dollar amount, however any financial assistance to this legal challenging provided by the RPOF will be reflected in our state and federal reports."

Hensarling did not return a phone call from Sunshine State News.

Hensarling's suit targets four TEA candidates: Juanita Virone (House District 35), Margaret Dunmire (Congressional District 8), Darrin Dunmire (House District 40) and Jonathan Foley (House District 41) -- all in Orange County. Hensarling's complaint, filed in Orange County Circuit Court, alleges that Peg Dunmire violated election law by paying the other candidates' filing fees before they opened campaign accounts.

Disputing Hensarling and Thrasher, TEA Party adviser Doug Guetzloe said, "All of the TEA Party officers and candidates are from the tea party movement. Our polling shows that our TEA Party candidates are running ahead or close to ahead in all the races involved in this bogus lawsuit.

The Florida TEA Party, which is fielding 21 candidates statewide, is the subject of a pending suit in U.S. District Court over use of the "Tea" brand. A coalition of state tea parties alleges that TEA illegally appropriated the name.

Meantime, TEA Chairman Frederic O'Neal has said his group will sue the newly organized Tea Party Foundation Inc., an electioneering communications organization, over its use of the name.