Rose Fellow Douglas Johnson on the Tea Party's Influence

Johnson is quoted as saying “the Tea Party people who participated [in the election of Tea Partier Tim Donnelly to the Republican candidate for the 59th Assembly District] now have a success under their belt, which is going to fire them up for more aces.” Johnson notes that the Tea Party has not had as much influence in California as it has in other parts of the United States. He says, “the High Desert is unique in that in houses an electorate which has long embodied some of the key points of the Tea Party movement: a strong focus on individual responsibility and resistance to the idea of big government…The High Desert region was a Tea Party region before the term existed…It’s always been kind of a fired-up, grassroots region, and now they have national support of the movement.”