Prof: Graves' victory good for tea party movement

GAINESVILLE - A political science professor at North Georegia College & State University says Tom Graves' victory in the 9th District Congressional special election runoff Tuesday bodes well for the tea party movement.

Ross Alexander, appearing Wednesday on The Local Hour on WDUN NEWS TALK 550, said "(this is) definitely a major accomplishment for the tea party movement." And, he added "voters are definitely angry."

Graves beat Lee Hawkins in the runoff for Nathan Deal's unexpired term by a 13 percent margin but now must face Hawkins and several other candidates - all in the Republican Primary on July 20 - in the race for the a full term that begins in January. There is no Democratic candidate.

Graves had the endorsement of the Atlanta Tea Party and a number of other groups closely aligned with the tea party movement.

Despite the widespread, nationwide discontent with the way things are going in Washington, Alexander said he does not see the kind of upheaval in Congress that occurred with the Republican takeover in 1994.

"Nothing that major," he said, while quickly adding, "I would not want to be an incumbent this year, definitely not a Democratic incumbent."

http://accesswdun.com/article/2010/6/229945