Alabama tea party leader signals she will challenge Martha Roby for congressional seat

Becky Gerritson testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee on the IRS's targeting of conservative groups. — Becky Gerritson testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee on the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups.

WETUMPKA, Ala. — Wetumpka Tea Party leader Becky Gerritson signaled on Tuesday that she will challenge Rep. Martha Roby (R-AL2) for Alabama’s second congressional district seat, which encompasses a large swath of southeast Alabama from just north of Montgomery down to the Florida and Georgia state lines.

In an email titled “The time is now — I’m stepping up!” Gerritson told tea partiers from around the state she has decided “to play a more direct role in getting on (sic) nation back on track.”

“It is time that we, the grassroots voters of Alabama, let our voices be heard,” she wrote. “Together, we can elect a leader that will fight to reduce the size and scope of government, promote liberty, protect life, and uphold the Constitution. Together, we can give the Second District the representation it deserves.”

Borrowing a line from presidential hopeful Donald Trump’s oft-repeated criticisms of America’s current elected officials, Gerritson expressed frustration with “the incompetence of our political leaders.”

Gerritson gained national attention in 2013 for her passionate testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee, during which she detailed the Wetumpka Tea Party’s apparent targeting by the IRS.

“I am not here today as a serf or a vassal,” she said, fighting back tears. “I am not begging my lords for mercy. I am a born-free, American woman – wife, mother and citizen – and I’m telling MY government that you have forgotten your place. It is not your responsibility to look out for my well-being or monitor my speech. It is not your right to assert an agenda. The posts you occupy exist to preserve American liberty. You have sworn to perform that duty. And you have faltered.”

Since then Gerritson has appeared occasionally on Fox News as the court battle over the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups proceeded.

This will not be the first time Rep. Roby has had to contend with a challenger from the tea party wing of the GOP. She bested tea party-backed candidate Rick Barber 60% to 40% before defeating incumbent Democratic congressman Bobby Bright to win the seat for the first time in 2010.

She easily won re-election in 2012 and 2014 and earned a coveted seat on the House Appropriations Committee. She was also tapped to serve on the House Select Committee on Benghazi led by tea party icon Trey Gowdy (R-SC), who recently came to the Second District to lend his support to Roby’s re-eleciton bid, although she did not have an opponent at the time.

Gerritson will likely try to frame the race along the same ideological lines that divide the current Republican majority in the U.S. House. Roby’s 67% score on Heritage Action’s conservative scorecard is the lowest among Alabama’s Republican congressmen, and she is largely viewed as an ally of House GOP leadership.

On the flip side, Roby has won high marks from around the District for her office’s commitment to constituent services and nuanced understanding of the needs of the region’s large farming and military communities. She will also enter the race with significant financial and geographic advantages. Roby’s campaign committee boasts over $700,000 cash on hand and she hails from the most populous part of the District. Gerritson is untested as a fundraiser and resides in the Second District’s more rural northern corner.

Yellowhammer will have further analysis of this race after Gerritson becomes an official candidate later this week. Her announcement is set for 9:30 a.m. Thursday at Gold Star Park in Wetumpka.