( CNN ) -- It 's a grass-roots protest movement composed of the newly politicized and people distrustful of hierarchy . So how is it possible to be an illegitimate Tea Party member ? Ask Republicans in Nevada . Some are accusing Jon Scott Ashjian , a new Tea Party candidate running for U.S. Senate , of being a fake . The allegation ? He was put in the race by agents of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to siphon votes from the GOP . `` No doubt about it , '' says Danny Tarkanian , one of the many Republican Senate candidates hoping to challenge Reid in November . `` Nobody in the Tea Party knows who he is . He did n't know any of the principles of the Tea Party , '' Tarkanian tells CNN . Tarkanian even accuses `` Harry Reid 's staff , campaign , whatever '' of picking Ashjian because he 's Armenian , as is Tarkanian . He explains , `` They know the Armenians are very close , they 'll vote for each other . '' As for Reid , an aide dismisses the accusations . As does Reid , who says he 's never met Ashjian or `` anyone in his family . '' Reid tells CNN , `` I think there are too many conspiratorialists in the world today . This is a free country . '' Sue Lowden , the Republican front-runner in the Senate primary , according to recent polls , is the former Nevada Republican Party chair and seems to be the Republicans ' best hope of unseating Reid in November . Or at least she did , until Ashjian got into the race . Lowden says she 's been very active with Tea Party groups in Nevada . `` I am a Tea Party voter , absolutely . '' Which is why she says she finds it `` a little strange '' that Ashjian is emerging now . `` I do n't know who this person is . He 's never been involved with anything that I 'm aware of in this state . '' She does n't know if he 's a spoiler . `` We 'll find out for sure , '' she promises , adding , `` I 've never seen him at one of our Tea Parties , by the way . '' It 's clear why Lowden and Tarkanian would be concerned . A recent poll conducted for the Las Vegas Review-Journal indicates Lowden and Tarkanian each beating Reid in one-on-one hypothetical general election matchups . But add a Tea Party candidate to the ballot , and that siphons off enough conservative votes to give Reid a narrow victory . According to the survey , Reid would grab 36 percent of the vote , the Republican candidate 32 percent and the Tea Party candidate 18 percent in a possible three-way showdown . So the conspiracy theories abound from Tea Party activists and worried Republicans : Ashjian 's never attended Tea Party rallies ; he has n't coordinated with local organizers ; the secretary of his Tea Party of Nevada , Barry Levinson , is a registered Democrat . Levinson said , `` I vote the person , not the party '' and calls the accusations `` political garbage . '' But to critics , it 's all proof that Ashjian is , in the words of Nevada Tea Party activist and blogger Ned Barrett , running a `` false flag operation . '' Jon Scott Ashjian seems to find the fuss amusing . New to the political scene , he personally gave CNN directions to his house for an interview that his wife , daughter and bulldog attended . He said it was the first time he 'd spoken with the national media . Ashjian , who helped form the Tea Party of Nevada just to run for this seat , said that he 'd never take marching orders from the Democrats or Reid . `` I have never met Harry Reid , do not agree at all with any of his political values , '' Ashjian said , adding that he 's not the kind of guy `` who would follow or be told what to do . '' He says he 's fielded endless calls from Republicans trying to strong-arm him to leave the race , and he resents it : `` I do n't think Republicans own the Tea Party , '' Ashjian said . `` In fact , I know they do n't in Nevada , because I do . That 's what 's really got them in an uproar . '' He said he 's been told that he 's not welcome on the bus when the Tea Party rolls into Nevada . Ashjian says he got into the race because `` we are patriots that want change . We 're normal people that want to make a difference . '' First , he plans to make a campaign Web site . A spokesman for Tea Party Express , a national Tea Party group that is encouraging efforts to defeat Reid at the ballot box in November , says it does not view Ashjian as a serious candidate . They say he 's not speaking at either of their two rallies in Nevada on March 27 , when they kick off their third Tea Party cross-country caravan with events in Searchlight ( Reid 's hometown ) and Las Vegas , but they say he 's welcome to attend . Tea Party Express also says it is not endorsing any candidate in the Nevada GOP Senate primary .
Some say Jon Scott Ashjian , a new Tea Party candidate running for Senate , is a fake . GOP front-runner Sue Lowden says she 's never seen Ashjian at Tea Party events . Another GOP candidate alleges Harry Reid 's campaign planted Ashjian to siphon GOP votes . Ashjian seems to find the fuss amusing ; Reid dismisses the allegations .