Tea Party activists from across Michigan will gather this weekend to pick a consensus candidate for U.S. Senate.
A crowded field of Republicans are on the August primary ballot. The winner will face incumbent Democrat Debbie Stabenow in the November general election.
Cindy Gamrat is the organizer of Saturday’s convention in Mt. Pleasant. She says they hope to pick a candidate to support now in hopes it will help Tea Party members to organize to defeat Senator Stabenow.
"If we wait to really get behind a candidate after the primary, we only have a few months," says Gamrat, "That doesn’t give you much time to put an effective ground, grassroots campaign together.”
Gamrat says the straw poll results will not be binding on Michigan’s Tea Party members to follow, but she hopes it will be enough to convince some candidates to drop out of the race.
Gamrat says the group also hopes to hear from candidates in next week’s Republican president primary at their convention this weekend.
