By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network
LANSING, MI – A political organization calling itself "The Tea Party" has filed its official list of candidates who will appear on the November ballot. Conservative tea party activists say they fear this is a political dirty trick to hijack their movement.
There's no candidate for governor on the list of 23 nominees turned in to state elections officials. But there are nominees for secretary of state and attorney general, as well as battleground congressional and legislative seats.
Bill Ballenger is the editor of the newsletter "Inside Michigan Politics."
He says races seem to have been chosen where one more name on the ballot could change the outcome.
"Clearly, I think, this is a nefarious attempt by a band of troublemakers to influence the result of the November election in a way that would disadvantage the Republican Party," Ballenger says.
The Tea Party has not been officially approved as a recognized political party. Elections inspectors are still checking over petitions. But the organizers turned in thousands more signatures than necessary to qualify for the November ballot.