PHOENIX, AZ -- On Monday at a quarter past noon, local lawyers will convene on the Central Courthouse steps to demonstrate against Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, the chief prosecutor of the fourth most populous county in the country.

Thomas, along with Sheriff Joe Arpaio, filed a suit...

PHOENIX, AZ -- More misconduct has been alleged against Arizona Republican Party executive director Brett Mecum, who is now the subject of a criminal complaint alleging he used the Republican's voter database to stalk a young female graduate student.

The affidavit, filed last month with the local sheriff's office,...

PHOENIX, AZ -- Sheriff Joe Arpaio, famous for his aggressive prosecution of illegal immigrants, has become mired this week in a whirlwind of back-and-forth accusations, investigations, indictments, arrests, and general animosity between warring factions of local politicos in Maricopa County, the fifth largest county in the country. Disputes have become...

Produced by HuffPost's Eyes & Ears Citizen Journalism Unit

The Tea Party movement has gained national prominence for leading organized protests against big government. But the movement itself is far from a cohesive group of supporters. No less than eight separate and sometimes competing organizations make up the...

Produced by HuffPost's Eyes & Ears Citizen Journalism Unit

The Tea Party Patriots is a nationwide coalition of Tea Party groups, that is the de facto face of the movement.

The local groups it represents may include grassroots activists, but the coalition's backers and organizers are among the...

Produced by HuffPost's Eyes & Ears Citizen Journalism Unit

FreedomWorks, formed in 2004 through the union of Citizens for a Sound Economy and Empower America, two conservative think tanks. A year before that merger, an ugly schism within CSE produced another splinter group, Americans for Prosperity. Oil billionaire...

Produced by HuffPost's Eyes & Ears Citizen Journalism Unit

When people think of the Tea Party movement, what comes to mind are the Tea Party Express rallies that received extensive coverage over the summer from FOX News. Tea Party Express began as a bus tour set up by

Produced by HuffPost's Eyes & Ears Citizen Journalism Unit

Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks are the result of a 2005 split between feuding factions of Citizens for a Sound Economy. Americans for Prosperity is still directly supported by the Koch family. The founder of Americans for...

Produced by HuffPost's Eyes & Ears Citizen Journalism Unit

The American Liberty Alliance grew out of TaxDayTeaParty.com, a website designed to help direct people to their local tea parties in April.

TaxDayTeaParty.com was registered on Feb 28 and AmericanLibertyAlliance.com was registered on March...

Produced by HuffPost's Eyes & Ears Citizen Journalism Unit

Samuel Adams was the brewer and patriot who, in 1773, ginned up a mob of Bostonians dressed as Native Americans which conducted history's original Tea Party. The president of Sam Adams Alliance is John Tsarpalas, former executive director...

Produced by HuffPost's Eyes & Ears Citizen Journalism Unit

The American Future Fund describes itself as a "multi-state issues advocacy group designed to effectively communicate conservative and free market ideals." It appears to be a coalition of high-powered conservative political operatives who were among the first supporters of...

Produced by HuffPost's Eyes & Ears Citizen Journalism Unit

Tea Partiers are famous for their raucous protests during the August Congressional recess. They screamed, yelled, stomped and railed against health care reform via town hall meetings and protests across the country.

Most of the August Tea Party activity was...

Produced by HuffPost's Eyes & Ears Citizen Journalism Unit

Some conservative American media personalities have developed a symbiotic relationship with the Tea Party movement. Right-leaning political commentators promote the Tea Parties, generating more anger and passion among their listeners, which in turn generates more fans and listeners, boosting ratings.

PHOENIX, AZ -- Former Congressman J.D. Hayworth (R) raised more than $100,000 Saturday night at an event headlined by popular Sheriff Joe Arpaio (R). The money will go toward paying lawyer fees accrued when Hayworth was implicated in the Abramoff scandal. Hayworth gained notoriety when he became a far-right talk...

PHOENIX, AZ -- With one of the worst budget crises in the nation, Arizona lawmakers have had a particularly stressful job this year. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer even called the capitol a "hell hole." On Monday, the stress was too much for one Arizona lawmaker who launched into a strange...

PHOENIX, AZ -- Former Congressman J.D. Hayworth might just be Arizona's next senator. The local radio personality has publicly toyed with the idea of running against Senator John McCain in the Republican primary, but on Monday he took the first serious step toward a possible run by asking...

By Dawn Teo and Alex Brant-Zawadzki

The current consensus among pundits and politicos is that the Tea Party movement will fail in 2010 unless a national leader or organizational structure emerges. These predictions are based on fierce infighting and turf wars that have broken...

PHOENIX, AZ -- Rasmussen announced a new poll on Friday showing Senator John McCain may be in trouble at home where a polarized electorate has him facing constant criticism from both the left and the right.

The poll shows McCain tied with former Congressman and current talk radio host...

Unions and other left-leaning organizations typically oppose the big-business policies hawked in the halls of Congress by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. However, the U.S. Chamber is now being harshly criticized on the record by some unlikely sources: small businesses, medical professionals, and several of their own local chambers of...

Lexicographers at the New Oxford American Dictionary have selected teabagger as one of the runner-ups to unfriend for 2009 Word of the Year.

The definition of teabagging, according to Oxford, is "a person who protests President Obama's tax policies and stimulus package, often through local demonstrations known...