Nearly 100 tea party activists converged on the headquarters of the National Republican Senatorial Committee on early Monday afternoon to demand that leaders of the committee not support incumbents that are facing primary challenges, The New York Times reports.

Tea party activists had gathered in Utah to meet with newly elected Republican senator Mike Lee whose victory over incumbent Robert Bennett represents one of the largest victories for the tea party to date.

Activists are now calling for a candidate who can succeed in taking Utah’s senior senator Orrin Hatch’s seat in the upcoming election. The seats held by Hatch, along with Richard Lugar of Indiana and Olympia Snowe of Maine are three senatorial seats the tea party believes it has a good chance of taking in the 2012 elections.

Activists converged on the senatorial committee on Monday to protest fund-raisers for Senator Hatch. They want the committee to withhold political or financial support from any incumbents in the party.

“Tea Party groups believe that backing establishment Republicans like Senator Hatch, with a history of bad votes dating back to 1977, is too out of step with Utah voters to ignore,” said a statement announcing the march.

The tea party remains a constant reminder of the fractured state of the GOP and this internal division could have major repercussions for the party in the 2012 election.