Inside Bachmann's Tea Party Caucus

The new Tea Party caucus will have serious clout. Its members include fundraising heavyweights from some of the safest, most conservative seats in the country.

The Tea Party caucus unveiled this week is full of controversial characters - you either love ‘em or you hate ‘em. From Representative Michele Bachmann to Joe “You Lie” Wilson to the BP-groveling Joe Barton, the caucus is sure to be a “receptacle” for contentious tea party interests.

The Tea Party caucus has forty members, all of them Republican – the one Democrat with a Tea Party endorsement, Rep. Walt Minnick (ID-1), declined to join. The following is a profile of Tea Party caucus members.

Leadership Strength

For all the stories about how House Republican leadership was wary about the Tea Party caucus, three members of the caucus are members of the seven person Republican House Leadership – Mike Pence, Pete Sessions and John Carter are the Conference Chair, NRCC Chair and the Conference Secretary, respectively.

Rounding out the pack with fundraising powerhouses Michele Bachmann and Joe Wilson, who both raised over $4 million so far this cycle, this caucus has serious clout.

Possible Infighting and Departures

An interesting fact – two of the caucus members are currently battling it out in a Senatorial primary in Kansas. Rep. Todd Tiahrt and Rep. Jerry Moran are campaigning to replace Sen. Sam Brownback.

Two other members will soon depart the caucus: Rep. John Shadegg has opted not to run for re-election, and Rep. Peter Hoekstra is running to become governor of Michigan.

Cook Partisan Voting Index

The Cook PVI measures how strongly a district leans towards a political party compared to the country as a whole. The Tea Party caucus’ members are, by and large, in districts where there are no serious Democratic challengers – the average Cook PVI of Tea Party caucus members is R+13.95.

As reported elsewhere, the average margin of victory for a Tea Party caucus member in 2008 is an astounding 29.2 points.

The caucus member with the most competitive district is Rep. Gus Bilirakis (FL-9) (whose district is R+6). Caucus mastermind Michele Bachmann, as well as Reps. Pete Hoekstra and Denny Rehberg, are in districts that are R+7.

Fundraising

The average Tea Party Caucus member has raised over $1 million dollars so far this cycle. Tea Party luminaries Michele Bachmann and Joe Wilson have raised almost the same amount: just over $4 million.

In 2006, the average House race winner raised $1.1 million for the entire cycle, which means that, with three and a half months to go, most Tea Party caucus members find themselves in good financial shape.

Ideology

As can be expected, the members of the Tea Party Caucus score very well on the American Conservative Union’s annual ranking of conservatives. The average 2009 ACU score for a Tea Party caucus member is an astronomical 96.93; the lifetime average is 94.83.

The least conservative member of the Tea Party Caucus is Rep. Rodney Alexander, whose lifetime rating is a dismal 76.57. Even Rep. Ralph Hall, who spent most of his thirty year career as a Democrat (he switched in 2004), has a score of 83.76.

Six members have a perfect lifetime ACU score: Reps. Michele Bachmann, Paul Broun, John Fleming, Doug Lamborn, Cynthia Lummis and Tom McClintock.

Gender

There are three women in the Tea Party cucus: Reps. Michele Bachmann, Lynn Jenkins and Cynthia Lummis. Out of forty members, this means that 7.5% of the caucus is female. This is compared to 9.5% of House Republicans, and 16% of the House as a whole.

Personal Wealth

Four members of the Tea Party caucus made it onto Roll Call’s list of the ‘Fifty Richest Members of Congress’:

Full List of Data