While the tea party wave helped sweep 87 Republican freshmen to the House last year, the movement made slower progress in the Senate, as a half-dozen of its “rock star” candidates — after some surprising primary wins — stumbled in the general election.

But as the sting of their November defeats subsides, many of those fallen GOP tea party stars are taking steps again toward the public stage.

Sharron Angle, who surprisingly won the Nevada Republican Senate primary last year before losing to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid by almost 6 percentage points, announced last week she was seeking the House seat to be vacated by Rep. Dean Heller, who is running for the Senate...