Quinnipiac confirms what Democratic strategists have banked on: tea party candidates could hurt the Republican Party at the polls this November.

Tea party candidates, running as third-party candidates or incorporated under state-registered Tea Parties, would siphon votes from Republican candidates in congressional elections this fall, Quinnipiac finds. From Quinnipiac's release:



While voters say 44 - 39 percent that they will vote for a Republican over a Democratic candidate in this November's Congressional elections, if there is a Tea Party candidate on the ballot, the Democrat would get 36 percent to the Republican's 25 percent, with 15 percent for the Tea Party candidate...



That's exactly what could be happening in Nevada, where Tea Party candidate Scott Ashjian could upset the GOP's chances of defeating Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in his reelection race.

Self-identified tea partiers are actually just Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, Quinnipiac finds:



• 74 percent are Republicans or independent voters leaning Republican;

• 16 percent are Democrats or independent voters leaning Democratic;

• 5 percent are solidly independent;

• 45 percent are men;

• 55 percent are women;

• 88 percent are white;

• 77 percent voted for Sen. John McCain in 2008;

• 15 percent voted for President Barack Obama.



A caveat about this set of data: the sample size of tea partiers is small. Quinnipiac surveyed 1,907 registered voters nationwide, and 253 self-identified as tea partiers. The margin of error among tea partiers was +/-6.2%.