TRENTON — The state’s nascent tea party movement has a feeling it has some juice these days.

Last week, Rand Paul’s lopsided victory in the U.S. Senate primary in Kentucky brought sudden respect for the power of the conservative group — despite the controversy that engulfed the candidate over his subsequent remarks regarding the Civil Rights Act.

This week, the movement spearheads an oral argument before the state Supreme Court over whether it may file a recall petition against U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.).

RoseAnn Salinitri, the leader of the Sussex County tea party and the main force behind the effort to recall Menendez, said the primary results in Kentucky and Arkansas, as well as in Pennsylvania, energized tea party activists both in New Jersey and nationally.

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Still, as Paul showed in the aftermath of his landslide victory for the Republican Senate nomination over establishment candidate Trey Grayson, a movement far from the center is no sure road to victory.

After his controversial remarks suggesting businesses be allowed to deny service to minorities without fear of federal interference — he scrambled to declare Friday that he wouldn’t seek to repeal the Civil Rights Act, or the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits housing discrimination on the basis of race.

Paul saw Republicans in some areas edging away amid a firestorm of criticism. Meanwhile, the first opinion poll since the election has shown him with a wide lead over his Democratic rival, Jack Conway.

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