Tea Party's Peg Dunmire May Complicate GOP Hopes to Win Florida House Seat

One congressional district where the Tea Party movement may feed the worst fears of some Republicans is in Orlando, Fla. where the GOP sees a chance to unseat first-term Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson but faces the complication of a Tea Party candidate in the race, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Grayson is the combative, unabashedly progressive congressman who made headlines during the health care debate when he said, ""If you get sick America, the Republican health care plan is this: Die quickly."

There are seven Republicans vying for the chance to oppose Grayson in November, but they have been joined by Peg Dunmire, a business consultant running as the candidate of the newly-born Florida Tea Party.

The Sentinel said Dunmire has little chance of winning given that she is a political newcomer running as a third party candidate and has little funding. But Tom Tillison, a movement activist who is not connected to the formal party that tapped Dunmire, told the Sentinel, "Everyone understands the impact a Tea Party candidate could have in that race. It's clear that Peg Dunmire's candidacy stands to benefit Alan Grayson tremendously."

The Florida Tea Party was formed in August but the Sentinel reports its "very existence is a sore spot with many activists in the tea-party movement, who want it to remain a grassroots force, not a political party."

The challenge that a Tea Party third candidate poses in Orlando is one that was reflected in a Quinnipiac University poll conducted last March.

On a generic congressional ballot, 44 percent of respondents said they would vote for the Republican while 39 percent would support the Democrat, with 16 percent undecided. But if a Tea Party candidate made it a three-way race, the Democrat would come out on top by 36 percent to 25 percent over the Republican, with 15 percent for the Tea Party standard bearer and 22 percent undecided, the poll said.