It's all a ruse to paint the tea party movement in a bad light.
But google is full of articles calling him a "tea party" candidate, saying he is "backed by the tea party" but nowhere does it say what tea party org or group.
About the author:
Mark Joseph Stern is a writer for Slate. He covers science, the law, and LGBTQ issues
The tea party affiliation is make up of whole cloth, it's Alinsky tactics.
I only see one mention of "tea party" action, walking precincts for Esk 4 years ago.
They call themselves a tea party group, but it was formed under Beck's 912 thingie, so not really TPM IMO. (In 2009 when the TPM started, Beck jumped in front of the parade and tried to draw tea party people to follow him and his 912 group)
Here’s a link to his Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/imscobol?v=info
In the Groups page of his profile he is listed as a member of the Oklahoma City Tea Party.