Senator Marco Rubio – Tea Party Choice for Vice-President

Congressmen Paul Ryan and Allen West Strong Tea Party Favorites

Washington, DC –Tea Party Express Chairman Amy Kremer announced today the results of the nationwide survey of Tea Party Express supporters that showed Florida U.S. Senator Marco Rubio the favorite vice-presidential candidate.

Kremer said, “It is not a big surprise that Marco Rubio is the favorite candidate of the tea party for the vice-presidential nod. He ran as a strong fiscal conservative, and he has delivered with his record in the U.S. Senate for the last two years. The only surprise is that he led the other excellent candidates by such a wide margin.

“The next favorites of the Tea Party Express supporters were Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Congressman Allen West (R-FL). Both Ryan and West have become extremely popular within the tea party movement because of their strong stands on getting America’s fiscal house in order, which is the number one issue facing our country.”

The Tea Party Express has been surveying their supporters for the last month with a mail-in ballot. Twenty-seven different candidates were on the ballot, and respondents were asked to rate the candidates as “strong,” “ok” or “weak.” Over 8,000 responses have been tabulated.

Rubio was found to be a “strong” candidate by 66.0% of the tea party supporters. Ryan was second at 49.9%, and West was third at 46.8% to round out the top three finishers. The second tier of support was for former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.

Strong support was also shown for former Governor Mike Huckabee, Governor Chris Christie, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, businessman Herman Cain and Senator Rand Paul.

Kremer continued, “What was clear from the results of the survey as well as the many comments we received is that conservatives want to win this election. They are committed to defeating Barack Obama in the race for the White House, taking the gavel out of the hands of Harry Reid in the Senate and adding to our tea party supporters in the House of Representatives.

“All twenty-seven of the candidates were acceptable to the tea party. They just want to make sure we end the big-spending in Washington,” Kremer concluded.

Tea Party Express is the largest tea party political action committee in the nation. The organization aims its activity at reducing the size, cost, and intrusiveness of the federal government by electing pro-growth fiscal conservatives.

Marco Rubio 66.0%
Paul Ryan 49.9%
Allen West 46.8%
Rick Santorum 44.0%
Sarah Palin 41.0%
Michele Bachmann 40.9%
Scott Walker 39.8%
Mike Huckabee 39.1%
Chris Christie 37.9%
Newt Gingrich 34.7%
Herman Cain 34.5%
Rand Paul 31.9%