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Who could be the next Ted Cruz? Top 10 tea party primaries of 2014.

Who are the tea party movement's top candidates in 2014, and what are their prospects? Here's a look:

9. Idaho: Bryan Smith vs. Mike Simpson

Kim Raff/AP/File
Idaho Republican candidate Bryan Smith (r.) talks with Lynn Lewis (l.) and Dale Thornock at a town hall meeting during a campaign stop in Montpelier, Idaho, last November. He was knocked out of contention for a House seat in the May 20 primary.

Update: Rep. Mike Simpson beat trial lawyer Bryan Smith easily, 62 percent to 38 percent, in the May 20 primary for the Second Congressional District.

Here's the background: Few incumbent House members faced nationally backed tea party challengers, but this race was one. And Representative Simpson isn’t just a congressman – he’s a close ally of House Speaker John Boehner (R) of Ohio. And he scored only 47 percent in the conservative Club for Growth’s 2013 scorecard.

The Club and the other big Washington-based tea party organizations – FreedomWorks and the House branch of the Senate Conservatives Fund – backed Mr. Smith. The US Chamber of Commerce backed Simpson, including an ad that featured an endorsement by 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

Fundraising offered a glimpse into the race: Smith raised $137,000 in the first quarter of 2014, about a third of what Simpson raised.

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Mark Sappenfield
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