Jenny Beth Martin

Background

Martin graduated from Reinhardt University in Waleska, Georgia, in 1990. She later received a bachelor’s in business administration from the University of Georgia. She is married to Lee Martin and they have twins, a boy and a girl, born in 2003.

Tea Party Patriots

In February 2009, Martin’s home was in foreclosure and her husband Lee’s temp agency was in bankruptcy to the tune of $500,000 (all of which was forgiven). Despite this, Martin and her husband turned down a federal loan to save their house. Martin said she and her husband didn’t believe it was the right thing to do. Instead, Martin and her husband began cleaning houses, while he collected unemployment. It was while in the car on the way to a job that Martin heard Rick Santelli’s rant. “This is America! How many of you people want to pay for your neighbor’s mortgages [when they have] an extra bathroom and can’t pay their bills?” Martin credits Santelli’s words with goading her into action against the bail-out. Shortly after, Martin organized her first tea party rally in Atlanta. By June 2009, Martin had formed Tea Party Patriots, along with Amy Kremer and Mark Meckler. In 2010, Martin was being paid $6,000 a month by the organization. Meckler resigned from the Tea Party Patriots, citing differences with Martin and other board members over how the organization was being managed.

Compensation

As of 2014, Martin was receiving two salaries from the Tea Party Patriots: a $15,000 per month fee for "strategic consulting" and a $272,000 salary as President, with total annual compensation over $450,000. Out of the $37.5 million spent so far by the political action committees of six major tea party organizations, roughly half of the money — nearly $18 million — has gone to pay for fundraising and direct mail, largely provided by Washington-area firms. Meanwhile, tea party leaders and their family members have been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in consulting fees, while their groups have doled out large sums for airfare, a retirement plan and even interior decorating.

Puerto Rico bankruptcy-law structure

In the face of the Puerto Rican government-debt crisis and in concert with major distressed-debt hedge funds in 2015, Martin and Tea Party Patriots have opposed a U.S. Senate bill to allow Puerto Rico's public authorities access to bankruptcy restructuring options.

Political action committee

Martin is a co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund, a political action committee which Martin has said was formed to counter Karl Rove’s Conservative Victory Project. Martin characterizes Rove and his group as the ‘consultant class.’

In the 2016 Republican presidential primary, she endorsed Ted Cruz.