The momentum appears to be growing for the "tea party" after Rand Paul's strong win Tuesday night over Secretary of State, Trey Grayson.

Its been a little over a year since the "tea party" first started making waves.

Since then politicians like Sarah Palin and aspiring lawmakers like Paul have aligned themselves with the "party".

Now that Paul has seemingly elevated the nationwide group's platform, where does it go from here?

"If you heard Rand Paul's speech Tuesday night, then you heard one thing repeated over and over again.

"Tea party movement...Tea party movement... Tea party movement"

Paul's association with the grassroots movement was on full display Tuesday.

"I have a message... a message from the tea party. A message that is loud and clear and does not mince words...We've come to take our government back," Paul told a large crowd during his victory speech.

"It made me very proud to be a Kentucky 'tea party' member," says local "tea party" member, Randy Keller.

Keller says Paul's primary victory is a good sign that the movement that touts less government and fiscal responsibility, is being heard.

"Hopefully its the first shout-out voice for the 70-80% of people that says we want people that are generally honorable," notes Keller.

WKU Assistant Political Science Professor Scott Lasley believes Rand Paul's win gives some credence to the "tea party" and its mission.

"I think it creates an opportunity for the "tea party". Up till now its been pretty easy to tell what the "tea party's" against. It been a little bit more difficult to see what their vision is for the future," Lasley points out.

However, he says Paul now needs to win in November against Democrat Jack Conway to keep the movement's momentum going.

"This is only the first step. If Rand Paul doesn't win in November, then it significantly slows down any movement."

Keller feels having a candidate like Paul will ultimately pay dividends for the "tea party".

"We believe that somebody outside of the machinery is more likely to be responsive to the electorate... and far more likely to do what he says he'll do. So yeah that makes him a "tea party" guy."

Keller did tell me that while the gained exposure is nice but its a double-edged sword.

Mainly, because it makes the organization a "larger" target to those opposed to their beliefs.