NATIONAL TEA PARTY ORGANIZATIONS AND GROUPS

Of the hundreds, perhaps thousands of Tea Party groups nationwide, the most well known are:

Tea Party Patriots – The main co-founders and national coordinators of the Tea Party Patriots are Jenny Beth Martin and Mark Meckler.  This group focuses primarily on the goal of re-establishing limited government to America’s constitutional republic, and is viewed as being less supportive of the pro-life and gay marriage issues as other groups have been.  In September of 2010 the group became the focus of national attention when Fox News reported that it had been the recipient of an anonymous donation of one million dollars.

Tea Party Express – This is one of the more politically active groups within the Tea Party Movement, and it is currently led by Amy Kremer, Howard Kaloogian, and Sal Russo.  Originating with projects in Nevada, the Tea Party Express chartered a bus to make a trip that began at liberal Senator Harry Reid’s hometown in Nevada, and ended in Washington, DC.  Later, the group was highly instrumental in bringing about the primary election victories of Sharron Angle, Ken Buck, and Joe Miller.  They also supported the effort of Christine O’Donnell to oppose the incumbent US Senator in Delaware.  Unfortunately, however, all four went on to lose their general election races in 2010 and 2012.

Tea Party Nation – This group  began with a rally in downtown Nashville in February, 2009.  The organizer was a Tennessee lawyer by the name of Judson Phillips.  The organization got its start as a social network for conservatives, and quickly grew to have members in every state and in several foreign countries.  Tea Party Nation, still led by Judson Phillips, is national recognized for hosting the 2010 National Tea Party Convention, also in Nashville.  The headline of the event was an address by Sarah Palin, for which she was paid $100,000.  This was part of the reason for the inordinately high cost of participating ($549 plus fees, lodging, and transportation), which in turn is suspected to be the reason for the abandonment of a subsequent convention planned for Las Vegas in the fall of that same year.

An extensive list of Tea Party organizations and groups, as well as a number of organizations that hold principles and views aligned with those of the Tea Party, is HERE.