Tea party nominees won with less than 6 percent of the electorate, on average. | AP Photos Tea party victors won with few votes

Surprise tea party candidates are generating countless headlines, but most have won GOP nods for statewide office with less than 8 percent of the eligible vote — and it could hurt the Republican Party in November, according to a new analysis out Thursday.

Less than 6 percent of the electorate, on average, nominated the statewide tea party candidates, according to American University researcher Curtis Gans, in a report for the Center for the Study of the American Electorate.


Gans warns that while considerable tea party energy helped sweep longshot candidates to victory and drove GOP turnout — 9.8 percent of the electorate voted in Republican primaries this year compared with the 8.2 percent turnout for Democrats, the first time in 70 years that Republicans have turned out in higher numbers — the chosen candidates could hurt the party in the upcoming general election.

“Their position at the edge of the political spectrum and the relatively low turnout for most of their statewide candidates may make it difficult for the GOP to garner sufficient votes in some states to overcome potential tea party aversion,” Gans said in a statement.

In Delaware, Christine O’Donnell won the GOP nomination for Senate with backing from just 5 percent of eligible voters. Nevada GOP Senate nominee Sharron Angle won 4 percent of the state’s voters in her primary. Former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon was nominated with votes from 6 percent of Connecticut’s eligible voters. And New York Senate nominee Carl Paladino won with just 2 percent of the eligible vote.

The most successful candidates with tea party support were Alaska Republican Joe Miller, who won over 11 percent of eligible voters to beat Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski for the GOP nomination; and Wisconsin Republican Ron Johnson, who won votes from 12 percent of the electorate and is challenging Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold.

Still, Gans predicts that many of the groups that came out in droves to put President Barack Obama in the White House are more likely to stay home this Nov. 2. He pointed to diminished enthusiasm among young voters, blacks, Latinos, disaffected independents and moderate Republicans.

“The overall primary turnout speaks to a disaffected electorate and the sad likelihood is that there will be two ensuing years of legislative gridlock,” Gans said.

Democratic turnout in this year’s primaries was the lowest it has ever been, Gans’s analysis showed.

On the whole, turnout in this year’s primaries was the second lowest ever, at 17.8 percent. The only year that saw lower primary turnout was 2006, when 16.1 percent of eligible voters went to the polls.