Asheville tea party group endorses Ted Cruz

ASHEVILLE A local tea party group has endorsed Ted Cruz, a Republican senator from Texas, to be the next president.

Jane Bilello, who chairs the board of Asheville Tea Political Action Committee, said the group's nine-member board of directors endorsed Cruz because of his commitment to the same principles Asheville Tea PAC endorses: individual rights, limited government, fiscal responsibility and free markets.

"Ted Cruz is a proven and known quantity. This guy is a fighter," she said. "When the left hates you and the RINO Republican establishment hates you, that is a badge of honor."

The endorsement comes despite the fact that Ben Carson was the leading vote-getter at the Asheville location of the NC TEA Party Constitutional Caucus Oct. 17. The event held at locations around the state allowed tea party supporters to meet and cast ballots for their preference for president.

Carson beat Cruz by one vote, 44-43, at the Asheville caucus location at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College. Rand Paul got the remaining three votes among the 90 cast in Asheville.

Cruz won statewide, getting 391 votes to Carson's 328. Donald Trump was third with 31.

Bilello said the Asheville Tea PAC endorsement was not necessarily intended to reflect the tea party caucus vote and the organization putting on the caucus is not formally connected to Asheville Tea PAC.

In any event, Cruz would have won the Asheville caucus but for the fact that one of his supporters had to leave the event to go to work and another became sick, she said.

The Tea PAC is not likely to contribute large amounts of money to candidates, but Bilello said its endorsement could sway some tea party supporters likely to be involved in working for candidates.

The PAC made no expenditures for 2014 or the first half of 2015, according to reports filed with the Federal Elections Commission, but Bilello said 1,400 people subscribe to its email newsletter.

Cruz was in a three-way tie for fourth place in North Carolina with 6 percent of the vote, according to a poll conducted Oct. 23-25.

Greensboro resident Larry Holmquist led voting for U.S. Senate at the NC TEA Party Constitutional Caucus with 169 of the 290 votes cast. Incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr got only one vote.