Tea Party Activist to Challenge Boehner in Next Primary

Tea Party leaders who have been pushing for a primary opponent against House Speaker John Boehner in 2012 for not keeping a campaign promise to cut more federal spending are getting their wish.

Tea Party activist David Lewis, a 26-year-old married father, announced Friday that he will challenge the Ohio Republican. But Lewis is mounting a protest candidacy on a single issue: Boehner’s support of a federal budget that provided funding to Planned Parenthood.

Lewis plans to unveil graphic anti-abortion ads on his website Monday.

“I’m not delusional. I don’t know if I have a chance at beating the speaker of the House,” Lewis told the Cincinnati Enquirer. “But what I can do is show the Ohio voters that Boehner has a box full of empty rhetoric. He doesn’t really vote for his convictions. He’s an establishment Republican. He doesn’t believe in the Tea Party. He doesn’t really believe in the pro-life issues.”

Lewis doesn’t live in Boehner’s district now; he lives in Rep. Jean Schmidt's district. But he told the newspaper that he would move there if he wins the primary.

Boehner’s office declined to comment to the newspaper on Lewis’ candidacy.