Earlier this month, New York’s 23rd District race for the U.S. House of Representatives exposed a growing rift within the Republican Party.
After November 2008’s loses for the Republican Party, Tea Party activists across the nation vowed to transform their anger into action and take back their party from moderates they blame for their losses. The first major race Tea Party activists focused on was New York’s 23rd District House race.
In one of the most closely watched races featuring prominent national figures and celebrity endorsements, New York’s 23rd district pitted Tea Party candidate Doug Hoffman against Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava. The Republican Party-backed candidate dropped out of the race granting the Democrats their first victory in the district since the 1800s.
Tea Party conservatives are vowing to cause the same trouble in Tennessee’s 6th Congressional District race in 2010 against 13 term incumbent Democrat Rep. Bart Gordon.
Tea Party candidate for the 6th District U.S. House race in 2010 is Lou Ann Zelenik, a former business owner and current Tea Party organizer. Zelenik is also the former Rutherford County Republican Party Chair.
Although Republican candidate Dave Evans has entered the race, Tennessee Republicans are more hopeful for state Senator Jim Tracy’s (R-13) chances against Rep. Gordon.
Zelenik, who ran what many state Republicans felt was a nasty primary campaign in 2008 for the state House against fellow Republican Joe Carr, is now being attacked by Republicans for threatening their chances at defeating Rep. Gordon.
Stephen Shirley, conservative contributor to Zelenik’s hometown paper the Daily News Journal, wrote this in a guest column this week:
Zelenik certainly isn’t the perfect candidate. Never mind that she lost a Republican primary race for the Tennessee House 48th District. Zelenik comes across as a partisan blowhard interested more in hearing herself talk than in listening to local residents. She’s caustic, abrasive and quite simply annoying. Her schtick plays well with the “birthers” crowd. But independents simply plug their ears to her braying and search out a more reasoned voice.
Conservative blogger Matthew Hurtt had this to say about Zelenik in October:
Lastly, I am concerned about the history of Zelenik’s political aspirations. She jumped into a Republican primary as a member of the RuCo GOP Executive Committee in 2008, running against Joe Carr – and she ran a nasty, nasty campaign. Now, she’s jumping into a Republican primary as a member of the RuCo GOP Executive Committee in 2010 against Dave Evans. Whether or not her campaign will be nasty is yet to be seen. Is she running to further the goals of the Republican Party or is she running to further the goals of Lou Ann Zelenik?
Former TN GOP Spokesperson Bill Hobbs had this to say about Zelenik in September:
With all due respect to Lou Ann, the GOP isn’t going to beat Bart with someone who has been around politics for a long time, and who lost a state house primary, and who is not a “fresh face” in politics.
Zelenik’s Tea Party activism runs deep. Zelenik organized a couple of Tea Party protests on the square in Murfreesboro earlier this year to protest the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Under her chairmanship of the Rutherford County Republican Party, she helped merge a party-hosted website attacking Rep. Bart Gordon into the Middle Tennessee Tea Party website. Zelenik is the administrator for the Rutherford Tea Party group on Facebook with over 500 members.
Zelenik made an early decision to run against Rep. Gordon knowing Sen. Tracy was talking to fellow Republicans about entering the race. A day after Sen. Tracy recently made his intentions more public, Zelenick launched a radio campaign for her own candidacy.
Tennessee’s 6th District U.S. House race will be worth watching on a national level as the Tennessee Republican Party decides whether it will part ways with the national party and embrace the more ideologically pure conservative Tea Party candidate or whether they will side with the national Republican Party and support a more moderate candidate.
Tags: #TCOT, 2010, 6th District, Bart Gordon, election, Jim Tracy, Lou Ann Zelenik, Republicans, Tea Party, TN GOP, U.S. House
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[...] Is Talking » Tea Party vs. Republicans: battle brews in TN’s 6th District U.S. House racePosted 26 minutes [...]
The candidate who will bridge the divide, heal the rift, etc., is Kerry Roberts, positive conservative small-biz owner who is prepping to enter the race. Stay tuned…
I think your reporter needs to check their facts. Lou Ann Zelenik may pretend she’s with the Tea Party conservatives but she is not. She has a lot of money and time on her hands so she’s taken over and ruined everything. Second, Jim Tracy isn’t a true conservative. He supports raising our taxes and tried to raise our gas taxes by slipping it into a license plate bill. If Jim Tracy runs he will be the one to blame if Bart Gordon is elected to a 14th term. We need someone who will bring all Republicans together under the Christian values our country was founded on. None of these candidates will get my vote and no candidate chosen by Michael Steele will ever get my vote.
Beware the Politician in Tea Party Clothing. I’m afraid Lou Ann me be the very candidate we’ve been afraid of–one who rides the wave of the strong Conservative movement.
Lou Ann Zelenik is hardly the tea party candidate, not sure where this reporter got his information. She started the tea party group because she saw how it could further her own political objectives. That’s how she’s always been. Kerry Roberts is a genuine product of the tea party movement. He is a strong Christian and not protective of the GOP establishment at all. He’s an outsider to politics, but certainly clued into what’s going on in Washington. He will fight for our freedoms and not cow-tow to the GOP establishment. Think Jim DeMint or Mike Pence, but in Tennessee. Go Kerry Roberts!
I can’t believe all the nonsense being said here. I know Lou Ann and she’s the real deal. She gets a lot of heat from both Democrats and Republicans because she takes unpopular stands. She has fought hard to build up the Republican Party in Rutherford County only to have some people trash her every step of the way because she is a woman. She is the one true conservative in this race. As far as all these posts about her being a fake Tea Party supporter, can you name a single person who did more than Lou Ann to organize thousands of us independents to show up on the square to protest Obama’s spending? Where was Jim Tracy? Where was Kerry Roberts? Where were any of these so-called Republicans when she was organizing and fighting for us? They weren’t helping her one bit and now they want to claim to be the real Tea Party patriot? I don’t think so. Lou Ann isn’t the one upsetting this race. It’s the Republicans in Name Only that are ruining our chances of beating Bart Gordon.
Everybody needs to get a grip regarding the Tea Parties. Just because you went to a Tea Party, watched a Tea Party or organized a Tea Party it does not automatically qualify you to be a candidate who can get the job done. Look at the person who is running, what have they done in the past, who do they surround themselves with and are they known to keep their word. Those who sling mud will have mud slung back. People run nasty campaigns when they are afraid of losing not because they are convicted to hold values.
TrueDenim: back to my original statement. The only reason Lou Ann started the tea party group in M’boro was to further her own political objectives. Everyone knows that Lou Ann is looking out for Lou Ann and she will go to Washington and be a lap dog Republican for whichever way the wind is blowing, not standing on principles. Past action is a good predictor of future behavior and if the Joe Carr race is any indication, she will run a nasty race in ‘10. She has already gone around saying that Kerry Roberts didn’t even vote in the last presidential election. Not only is that not true, but why even go to the effort of trying to dig up that information if you don’t see someone as a viable threat to your own personal goals?
I don’t doubt LouAnn’s conservatism, but it was evident from the beginning that her tea party efforts where all shaped to set up her candidacy. Kerry Roberts lives in an entirely different part of the district and has been involved with the tea party group in Sumner County. Looking at a purely practical breakdown of the potential political baggage, ability to face and challenge Gordon in a debate, and to rise above partisan games while still navigating the political waters effectively, I’d put my money on Kerry Roberts without blinking.
I just loved this post and bookmarked your blog!
I think everybody needs to be careful about who they call “the Tea Party candidate.” This story is exceedingly irresponsible in doing so. Fact is, all three current candidates (Dave Evans, Lou Ann Zelenik, and Kerry Roberts) have strong ties to the Tea Party movement, which is fantastic. IF Jim Tracy enters, he will be the only one who hasn’t been active in the movement, to my knowledge. I think within a couple months it will be very clear which candidate is the actual favorite of the Tea Party movement, with potential support from Tennessee Tea Party, Sumner United for Responsible Government, Wilson County Tea Party, Marshall County Tea Party, Rutherford 9/12 group, and some of the others around the district.
Dave Evans visited MTSU recently. As far as I can tell, he’s the only one who has really reached out to students, since none of the others have been featured or talked about. I think Lou Ann Zelenik visited the campus, but there was no coverage of her. I wonder why.
Dave Evans article:
http://www.mtsusidelines.com/news/republican-primary-candidate-seeks-new-representation-1.896798
Doesn;t matter now, it seems it’s all about to end. The Tea Party Movement is about to be hijacked. TPN or TeaPartyNation.com organizers are hard lined GOP who use the proverbial veil of “conservatism” to attract supporters.
They also own and are having the National Tea Party Convention soon and are trying to put a face on it and disguise it as “our” convention. Not only that but they have decided to hold it at a ritzy over the top and outrageously expensive Opryland Hotel in Tennessee! When most of us are the working middle class and in the middle of economic hard times it’s just ridiculous!
This is where the grassroots tea party revolution will be hijacked by the GOP. TPN is owned by an attorney and through his trained and careful wording believes they have started the tea party movement, of course without saying as much.
They will attempt to consolidate all tea parties and be the ones in charge and leading the direction. If the other independent tea party groups give TPN any more importance, power or control of their direction then the true grass roots movement will die and have been for nothing. I would be very cautious about signing anything from TPN or just skip the convention all together.
Here’s how they answer questions to new members asking before deleting their accounts.
“Yes, can TPN please clarify their principals? I see the word “conservative principals” being used often and many broad generalizations. Can you please clarify the goal of TPN? Is the goal to revolutionize the system in a true diverse conservative grassroots takeover? Or do you plan to just get rid of the “RINO’s” and return to the “roots” and support towing the party line of the GOP?
Just a little concerned because those “roots” from both parties seem to get “uprooted” every few years and nothing ever changes. So can you please clarify your stance and be specific please? If you do not plan on reviving the hard nosed party line policies of the GOP, can you please explain what stances you’d approach differnetly and why? Thanks”
Sherry Phillips (owners wife) welcome to TPN, please click the FAQ page to read what TPN stands for.
Judson Phillips(owner) Welcome, please browse the comments and discussions and you will find your answer.
(me)Yes I have read the FAQ’s and read some discussions. I do not want to rely on the opinions of your members in informal discussions. I am looking for a straight forward honest answer from the leaders and organizers of TPN before I choose to get involved and active.
I am expecting an answer like a neighbor would give vs. a politician unable to give a simple answer. I think that’s fair, here are the questions your FAQ page raises for me. Can you please clarify? Your time is appreciate, thanks.
What Is The TPN?
“Tea Party Nation is a group of like-minded individuals who believe in our God given Individual Freedoms written out by the Founding Fathers. We believe in Limited Government, Free Speech, the Second Amendment, our Military, Secure Borders and our Country!”
Saying that you believe in Limited Government, Free Speech, the Second Amendment, our Military, Secure Borders and our Country is certainly conservative, but is very broad as it is also not only conservative values but GOP values as well.
What Are The Goals of TPN?
“It is our hope that Tea Party Nation helps its members focus on ideas, solutions and actions to help one another in this fight against liberalism and the reach of an ever-expanding government who has ignored the will of “We the People” for far too long.”
Ok, I understand the fight against liberalism and the reach of an ever-expanding government that ignores the will of the people. Doesn’t this include the GOP equally the same as the left?
What Is The Plan Of TPN?
“We hope to provide the tools and communication necessary for organizing against a government who has stopped listening to the people who put them in office. We want to help our members take those who are unresponsive to “We the People” out of office and replace them with those who hold Conservative values.”
Again, many who hold “conservative values” are the GOP who are equally as guilty to being unresponsive to the will of the people.
TPN’s response: They banned my account. Nice.
Joe,
Don’t worry so much about the Tea Party nation thing. They’re about to get taken down because of some exceedingly nasty stuff that their founder has done. You should check out Kevin Smith’s blog at http://www.superkev.net
Bill Hobbs,
Are you kidding me? Kerry Roberts as a Tea Party candidate? This is the guy who snubbed attending all his local tea parties, went to a Bart Gordon town hall, and then had some sort of near-religious experience whereupon he decided that he was “ordained” to win the sixth district seat!
Also, who do you think you’re BSing, calling Lou Ann “someone who has been around politics for a long time?” She was a small business owner and mother for 25 years until 2007 and only then got into politics. Two-plus years, my friend, is not “a long time” in politics or by any other reckoning.
Thanks, but I’ll stick with Lou Ann! Not only *is* she new to politics, but she’s the only viable candidate who stands up for her views 100% and owes nothing political to anybody influential!