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Sen. Marco Rubio, one of the first three Republicans to join the 2016 presidential campaign.

The first three Republicans to join the 2016 presidential campaignSens. Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and, Marco Rubio, who announces his candidacy Mondayhave one big thing in common: Each rose to power with support from the tea-party movement.

Now the three, who all beat establishment-backed candidates in Senate primaries, will be competing for the loyalty of tea-party voters as they seek the GOP presidential nomination.

This spate of candidates with tea-party roots and aspirations is a sign of how the GOP has been shaped by an anti-establishment movement that has emerged over the last six years, galvanized by unhappiness over big bank bailouts, a soaring federal deficit and President Barack Obamas 2010 health-care laws.

Cruz of Texas is assiduously courting the tea-party vote, trumpeting his fights with the GOP establishment on health care, immigration and other issues.

Paul of Kentucky launched his presidential campaign with a populist anti-Washington message but also tried to reach out to blacks and others beyond the conservative base.

Rubio, the Florida senator, who had tea-party support in his 2010 primary victory over a sitting governor, has the most to prove to his erstwhile tea-party allies, because he alienated many by supporting a major immigration bill.

An expanded version of this story is available at WSJ.com.

Originally posted here:
The Wall Street Journal: First three Republican presidential candidates share tea party roots