Tea Party Picking Winners in Presidential Primaries

Sacramento, CA – The Tea Party movement has been decisive in the presidential primaries with Tea Party voters choosing the winner in 15 of the 16 states where exit-polling data is available. Polls in the next contested primary state, Wisconsin, are showing Mitt Romney leading with both Tea Party supporters and voters as a whole, which would continue the track record of Tea Party success.

Contrary to the frequent and erroneous portrayal of the Tea Party as a fringe movement, what was abundantly clear in 2010 and further demonstrated in the presidential primaries thus far is that the Tea Party movement is driven by a broad base of the American electorate. Though many of these voters have a wide range of political views in regards to social and foreign policy, their shared determination to reduce the size, cost, and intrusiveness of the federal government brings them all together under the Tea Party banner.

Former Governor Mitt Romney has won eight states with exit polls – New Hampshire, Florida, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Vermont, Virginia, Illinois and Ohio.  Romney also captured a plurality of Tea Party supporters in each of the states except for Ohio, where Santorum won narrowly the votes of Tea Party supporters.

Former Senator Rick Santorum has been victorious in six states with exit polls – Iowa, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.  He won the plurality of Tea Party supporters in every one of those states; in addition, he won narrowly the Tea Party supporters in Ohio while the state was voting for Romney by a small margin.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich succeeded in winning both the Tea Party supporters vote and the presidential primaries in South Carolina and his home state of Georgia.  Congressman Ron Paul has neither won the plurality vote of Tea Party supporters or voters in any state.

The Co-Founder and Chief Strategist of the Tea Party Express Sal Russo said, “The Tea Party movement will be just as influential in 2012 as it proved to be in 2010.  The big difference in the two election cycles is that Tea Party activists were new to the political arena last election, but they are now firmly ensconced and engaged directly with multiple candidate campaigns for 2012.

“There is less need to wake up the politicians in Washington and to motivate Tea Party supporters to get active in the political process has passed.  These millions of new people continue to be engaged and are working hard to elect conservatives to Congress and to defeat President Barack Obama,” Russo concluded.

The Tea Party Express has not endorsed a Presidential candidate as yet, but sponsored the Tea Party Express Presidential Bus Tour in August and September 2011 to provide Tea Party supporters an opportunity to hear from the presidential candidates.  The Tour concluded with the Tea Party Express/CNN Presidential Debate in Tampa, Florida, on September 12th.  The Tea Party Express has already endorsed five senate candidates for the 2012 election cycle: Attorney General Jon Bruning in Nebraska, State Treasurer Richard Mourdock in Indiana, former Solicitor General Ted Cruz in Texas, State Treasurer Josh Mandel in Ohio and former State Treasurer Sarah Steelman in Missouri.  More Congressional endorsements will be forthcoming in the coming months.

The chart below shows the exit polling results for the presidential primaries concluded thus far.

 

Iowa Support (64%) Neutral (24%) Oppose (10%)  
Gingrich 15 10 9  
Paul 19 28 21  
Romney 19 32 43  
Santorum 29 17 13 W
Bachmann 6 2 3  
Huntsman 0 1 3  
Perry 11 9 8  
Other/No Answer 1 1 0  
         
New Hampshire Support (51%) Neutral (30%) Oppose (17%)  
Gingrich 14 6 3  
Paul 22 27 19  
Romney 41 42 28 W
Santorum 14 6 3  
Bachmann 0 0 0  
Huntsman 8 17 42  
Perry 1 0 0  
Other/No Answer 0 2 5  
         
South Carolina Support (64%) Neutral (27%) Oppose (8%)  
Gingrich 45 35 19 W
Paul 12 15 21  
Romney 25 30 32  
Santorum 17 18 13  
Perry 1 0 0  
Other/No Answer 0 2 15  
         
Florida Support (65%) Neutral (23%) Oppose (9%)  
Gingrich 37 22 15  
Paul 6 8 15  
Romney 41 57 57 W
Santorum 15 10 8  
Other/No Answer 1 3 5  
         
Nevada Support (75%) Neutral (19%) Oppose (5%)  
Gingrich 25 9 0  
Paul 17 23 0  
Romney 47 64 0 W
Santorum 12 4 0  
         
Arizona Support (60%) Neutral (26%) Oppose (11%)  
Gingrich 19 13 12  
Paul 6 8 21  
Romney 42 55 52 W
Santorum 33 20 7  
Other/No Answer N/A 4 8  
         
Michigan Support (52%) Neutral (29%) Oppose (17%)  
Gingrich 8 5 5  
Paul 7 16 15  
Romney 42 45 35 W
Santorum 41 30 39  
Uncommitted 1 2 2  
Other/No Answer 1 2 4  
         
Georgia Support (69%) Neutral (22%) Oppose 6%)  
Gingrich 51 42 24 W
Paul 5 9 18  
Romney 23 30 35  
Santorum 21 18 16  
Other/No Answer 0 1 7  
         
Ohio Support (59%) Neutral (27%) Oppose (10%)  
Gingrich 17 12 8  
Paul 7 12 13  
Romney 36 39 45 W
Santorum 39 37 30  
Other/No Answer 1 0 4  
         
Oklahoma Support (68%) Neutral (25%) Oppose (5%)  
Gingrich 29 26 0  
Paul 9 9 0  
Romney 25 39 0  
Santorum 37 25 0 W
Other/No Answer 0 1 0  
         
Tennessee Support (62%) Neutral (25%) Oppose (10%)  
Gingrich 28 20 8  
Paul 7 11 16  
Romney 25 28 41  
Santorum 39 39 29 W
Uncommitted 1 1 3  
Other/No Answer N/A 1 3  
         
Vermont Support (42%) Neutral (31%) Oppose (25%)  
Gingrich 12 8 3  
Paul 18 23 42  
Romney 44 42 28 W
Santorum 25 24 21  
Other/No Answer 1 3 6  
         
Virginia Support (59%) Neutral (26%) Oppose (12%)  
Paul 40 39 50  
Romney 60 61 50 W
         
Alabama Support (62%) Neutral (24%) Oppose (9%)  
Gingrich 34 23 15  
Paul 3 7 11  
Romney 26 32 40  
Santorum 35 35 26 W
Uncommitted 1 3 5  
Other/No Answer 1 0 3  
         
Mississippi Support (66%) Neutral (25%) Oppose (6%)  
Gingrich 34 27 21  
Paul 4 5 8  
Romney 27 35 37  
Santorum 34 32 30 W
Other/No Answer 1 1 4  
         
Illinois Support (56%) Neutral (30%) Oppose (13%)  
Gingrich 10 6 5  
Paul 7 11 17  
Romney 47 47 53 W
Santorum 36 36 23  
Other/No Answer 0 0 2  
         
Louisiana Support (74%) Neutral (19%) Oppose (6%)  
Gingrich 17 12 0  
Paul 5 9 0  
Romney 26 27 0  
Santorum 50 51 0 W
Other/No Answer 2 1 0