Head of Tea Party of Nevada endorses Angle

The head of the Tea Party of Nevada on Tuesday endorsed Sharron Angle, saying he could no longer support the third party's candidate, Scott Ashjian.

Dr. Sid James said he became disillusioned with Ashjian after the candidate secretly taped a meeting he had with Angle and then leaked the audio to the press.

“I gave the Angle campaign my word that this was to be a private meeting and not tape recorded," James said in a statement. "I feel my personal integrity and honor was violated when Scott taped what was to be a private conversation and then made it public. I regret that Scott felt he needed to do this. I can understand why the Angle campaign feels that they were double-crossed. The Angle campaign trusted me and that trust was violated.”

Angle agreed to the meeting last Wednesday after James reached out to her campaign, suggesting Ashjian might drop out of the race. But Ashjian refused despite the Republican nominee's argument that he could cost her the race against the Democratic incumbent. U.S. Sen. Harry Reid.

Angle is endorsed by the Tea Party Express, a national group, and has the backing of most members of the Tea Party movement in Nevada who have denounced Ashjian as a fake. Legal efforts to remove Ashjian's name from the Nov. 2 ballot have failed, meaning some casual Tea Party backers might pick him over Angle, the Tea Party favorite.

Ashjian leaked the audiotape over the weekend, prompting James to quit as chairman of the Tea Party of Nevada.

“When I found out about the audiotape of the meeting by Scott I was beside myself," James said. "Sharron Angle has been completely honorable in this entire process. This meeting was the first time I had met Sharron Angle and I was so impressed by the character that she has displayed, I would like to publicly endorse her."

A story in today's Las Vegas Review-Journal takes a look at the tactics behind the tape and the political fallout.