Ted Cruz Picks Up Largest Tea Party Group’s Backing

Over the weekend, presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) received the endorsement of the nation’s largest tea party group.

“We seek a candidate who shares our values: personal freedom, economic freedom and a debt-free future,” Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund Chair Jenny Beth Martin said. On behalf of Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund and our supporters, I am proud to announce our endorsement for president of the United States: Senator Ted Cruz!”

Martin and a number of tea party leaders from across the U.S. joined Cruz on stage at a campaign rally in Sioux City, Iowa. There, they expressed their resounding support for the Texas senator.

In a press release announcing the endorsement, Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund announced the process that went into it:

1. — Sent a questionnaire to all of the candidates.

2. — Attempted to schedule a personal interview between the candidate and the leadership of Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund.

3. — Provided as much information as is publicly available and reasonably accessible to our research team in order for our supporters to see where each candidate stands on the issues that matter to us and the issues that matter in the general election.

4. — Performed an online balloting process that consisted of four different ballots over the course of four weeks prior to the endorsement.

1. The first ballot included the top existing candidates in the race for the Republican nomination.
2. The second ballot was reduced to include eight candidates from the first ballot.
3. The third ballot was reduced to include the top four candidates from the second ballot.
4. Finally, the fourth ballot included the top two candidates from the third ballot.

5. — Registration: Anyone was allowed to register to participate in the Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund Primary. Existing supporters were considered registered by simply being affiliated with Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund.

6. — Implemented a validation process to ensure the integrity of the votes counted in the balloting process.

“Over the course of the last year, we have had many internal discussions, as well as many discussions with conservative leaders, local activists and Tea Party leaders around the country about the pros and cons of endorsing in the Republican Presidential Primary,” the press release stated. “We asked our supporters what we should do. After being surveyed, our supporters conveyed overwhelmingly that they wanted to go down the path to an endorsement. An even bigger majority said they would be willing to commit to voting en bloc with other Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund supporters around the country on primary election or caucus day for our eventual endorsee to ensure that he or she has the greatest opportunity to win the Republican nomination.”