Peg Dunmire and Florida TEA Party Candidates Should Step Down

By Jason Hoyt

Below are the remarks I made at the Press Conference on Thursday, June 24th at 10:00AM at the Orange County Supervisor of Elections office in Orlando.

I have the unique and distinct honor of having been involved in the very first conference calls with patriots from around the country back in February of last year that kicked off the national tea party movement. On those calls, we planned the first round of protests in 50 cities nationwide on February 27th, 2009. Since that time, thousands of hours have been dedicated by volunteers across the state of Florida, as well as in every state of the union.

This morning, I have the privilege of speaking on behalf of a coalition of local tea party groups as we stand together with this very important message.

The CENTRAL FLORIDA TEA PARTY COUNCIL, an alliance of local tea party movement leaders, today calls for the immediate withdrawal of Florida TEA Party candidate Peg Dunmire from Florida’s District 8 Congressional race.

With this week’s unsettling disclosure, in numerous press accounts, of a financial connection between Democrat Congressman Alan Grayson’s campaign and the Florida TEA Party political party, the legitimacy of TEA Party candidates across Florida, including Peg Dunmire, can no longer be defended by any prudent observer.

Accordingly, we, as a fair representation of the actual tea party movement, appeal to the integrity of Ms. Dunmire and all other Florida TEA Party contenders to make the honorable decision and protect their individual character, and standing, by renouncing their TEA candidacies, effective immediately.

The recently formed Florida TEA Party political party, is a Tea Party in name only. They have been engaged in a litany of questionable actions since their formation and have never been connected to or found any support from the actual tea party movement. The key organizers of the tea party movement here in central Florida stand united with the leadership throughout the state of Florida. We do not support the Florida TEA Party political party.

At the core of the tea party movement is the concept that We The People will decide our candidates. We’re upset with political parties, the establishment, playing favorites and picking our candidates for us. What Doug Guetzloe and Fred O’Neal have done is hijacked a name we have been working thousands of hours volunteering for,…and all they have done is become a new establishment, with corrupt party bosses, where they pick candidates for us,…and now, we’re able to track sources of money.

As a result, we ask that Peg Dunmire and the rest of the TEA candidates, help us bring integrity back to Washington and Tallahassee,…help us bring integrity and ethics back to the political process,…disassociate yourself from the corrupt Florida TEA Party political party…. join with us in the real, true tea party movement as we work to bring back fiscal responsibility in government, to protect the Constitution, and to limit the size of our Federal government.

Thank you.