FL: Tea Party Nominates 20 Candidates for State Legislature

A press release from the Florida Tea Party sent via email:

(Orlando, FL)- Florida TEA Party Chairman Fred O'Neal announced that twenty (20) candidates for the Florida legislature met qualifying deadline today to qualify for the November general election. All would have the word 'TEA' appear on the ballot next to their name and are the official nominees of the TEA party.

"We promised months ago that Republicans that merely talked about lower taxes but then voted for bigger government would be targeted. Today, incoming Florida Speaker of the House Dean Cannon, incoming Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos, and Democrat leader Ron Saunders all have Florida TEA Party opponents," said O'Neal.

"We will expose these RINO Republicans as the frauds that they are. Taxpayers have a right to a real choice and the TEA Party will give it to them."

O'Neal expects to wage a vigorous grassroots campaign that will oppose the influence of vested special interest money. "Just look at the millions of dollars that Cannon and Haridopolos have raised so far from lobbyists. It is an embarrassment that the Florida legislature is for sale to the highest bidder."

"For over a decade the Republicans have had a majority in Tallahassee and a Republican in the governor's mansion...and all we have to show for it is tax and spend policies that have helped bankrupt Florida's economy."

"We pleased to have a TEA Party candidate running in a Democrat stronghold district that the Republicans were afraid to challenge," he said. O'Neal was referring to Dr. Marshal DeRosa, a professor at Florida Atlantic University running in Senate District 30.

O'Neal also pointed out that Florida TEA Party candidates have qualified from Florida's panhandle to Key West and demonstrate a strong beginning for a brand new political party.

Florida TEA Party is an official political party recognized by the State of Florida and authorized by Florida Division of Elections to place candidates on the November ballot.

www.FloridaTEAParty.US