The Waco Tea Party, a little more than a year old, is looking ahead to the November midterm elections as a test of its true clout.

Part of a diffuse network of groups that share concerns about deficits and tax increases, the Waco Tea Party has seen mixed political success.

Central Texas candidates for Congress and state Senate who were favored by the Waco Tea Party met defeat in primaries and runoffs this spring. But the movement has had an apparent influence on local politics, including the ouster of a veteran county commissioner.

Suzanne Angel, of Austin, waves flags at the Waco Tea Party rally April 15 at Indian Spring Park.
Duane A. Laverty/Tribune-Herald

Ben Perry, a Woodway insurance salesman, unseated 24-year incumbent Ray Meadows on the McLennan County Commissioners Court, hitting on favorite Tea Party themes, such as transparency and responsiveness.

Waco Tea Party co-founder Michael Simon built and maintained Perry's campaign website, though he attributed those duties to a family connection, and not to his role in the Tea Party.

It appears that some other politicians with races in November have taken notice — even on the Democratic side.

As a national force, the Tea Party is widely viewed as an adjunct of the Republican Party, with members sharply critical of the Democratic administration and Congress.

But in McLennan County, Democratic county judge candidate Ralph Cooper said he was invited to the Waco Tea Party’s April 15 tax day rally. Cooper is facing a longtime incumbent, Judge Jim Lewis.

Cooper’s campaign promises include opening up county government by televising commissioners’ meetings, using plain language in meeting agendas and holding regular listening sessions with constituents countywide.

Cooper said he also shared concerns with Tea Party members over the commissioners’ vote to build a new, privately run jail on State Highway 6, completed in February.

“The local Tea Party has some issues that are very similar to what I have on my website,” Cooper said. “We don’t align 100 percent, but if we stay focused on the local issues — which are appropriate for the office I’m running for — there are a lot of parallels and common interests.”

Comments on Cooper’s Facebook page also suggest that he might benefit from the anti-incumbency mood that galvanized the Tea Party and helped Perry.

“I don’t know anything about Mr. Cooper,” said one commenter, who described himself as a Ben Perry supporter. But, the commenter added, “I would vote for Mickey Mouse over Jim Lewis.”

By contrast, Tea Party-favored candidates had poor showings in the bigger races in Central Texas — the contest for Kip Averitt’s state Senate seat and the GOP primary for the House seat held by Chet Edwards, D-Waco.

Senate hopeful Darren Yancy of Burleson kicked off his campaign at a small event at his house with the head of Burleson’s Tea Party group in attendance. Several key members of the Waco Tea Party backed him during the race.

Though Averitt did not campaign for health reasons, Yancy only mustered 40 percent of the vote.

Dave McIntyre, a GOP House primary candidate, was endorsed by Deborah Johns, the former vice chair of the Tea Party Express, a California-based Tea Party group that toured the country last summer.

A press release announcing the endorsement was topped with a picture of McIntyre posing between Waco Tea Party co-founders Michael Simon and Toby Marie Walker.

In the five-man GOP primary, McIntyre came in third, failing to make it to the runoff.

Simon, the Waco Tea Party co-founder, said the movement’s local impact isn’t limited to elections.

He said the group maintains a lengthy e-mail list and phone tree (he declined to say how long either list was) that can be deployed if an important local city council vote crops up.

Members have been regularly sitting in on city council and McLennan County Commissioners Court meetings and have been speaking up on local issues.

“I’d say the biggest thing was FreeFlight,” Simon said.

Last November, the Waco Tea Party mobilized its activists to write and call city and county leaders to object to a proposed $700,000 economic development loan to FreeFlight, an aviation company.

The loan was intended to help the small aviation company weather a rough patch, maintain employment levels and develop new products — and keep the company from moving out of Waco. FreeFlight officials said local leaders offered the loan as enticement to keep the company from moving away.

The Waco City Council approved the loan from the local economic development fund, but it needed county approval as well.

With Tea Party activists urging the commissioners not to support what they characterized as a bailout to the company, the panel voted 4-0 against granting the loan.

Simon said the group told commissioners the Waco Tea Party intended to be a continued voice on local issues.

“We talked to (Commissioners) Lester Gibson and Kelly Snell and basically said, ‘We’re watching you, and we’ve got a voice on this.’ ”

mshapiro@wacotrib.com

757-5707

RELATED SEARCHES

• Early-voting sites in McLennan County