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Democratic Incumbents, GOP Anointed Fall To Wayside In 3 Primaries
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May 19, 2010 8:57 a.m. EST
Topics: government, politics, public officials, primary, election, United States
Kris Alingod - AHN News Contributor
Washington, DC, United States (AHN) - Any doubts about how angry voters are at Washington or how strong the Tea Party movement is fell to the wayside Tuesday night along with the re-election hopes of several incumbents.
Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) fell short in his attempt at a sixth term, while in Arkansas, Sen. Blanche Lincoln will need another shot against her Democratic primary rival in a runoff. In Kentucky, a contender who in another election year would've been a long-shot, Rand Paul, easily thrashed the GOP's anointed candidate.
With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Specter had 46 percent of votes, behind Rep. Joe Sestak, who received 54 percent.
Specter ran with the backing of national unions and the full-throated support of the White House. But his decades in Congress, all of them as a Republican, proved too much for voters who, in polls and special elections this year, clearly said they were ready for someone new.
"Congratulations, Congressman Sestak. You have my support for the general election," Specter, who won his first Senate term in 1980, said in a message to supporters.
Sestak will face former Rep. Pat Toomey, who received 81 percent of the vote to beat two-time gubernatorial contender Peg Luksik in the Republican primary.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee quickly turned its eye on Sestak on Tuesday, warning voters that "[his] own party leaders understand that he’s simply too liberal for the state."
"It still remains to be seen whether the Democrat establishment will embrace or financially support Sestak’s candidacy after spending critical resources on Specter’s behalf," NRSC Chair John Cornyn added in the memo. "But there is no doubt that Sestak’s liberal ideology–coupled with the mounting opposition to his party’s costly agenda in Washington–puts him squarely at odds with mainstream voters in his state this November."
Democrats, meanwhile, acknowledged Sestak's "powerful message of change," and paid short tribute to a key ally they gained in the first year of the Obama administration.
"I have tremendous respect for Arlen, who has been a loyal member of the Democratic caucus," Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Robert Menendez said. "With his support, Democrats passed landmark health care reform, a jobs package, and of course the Economic Recovery Act, which saved the nation from an economic abyss."
Sestak "has a compelling life story," Menendez added, and "he knows what is wrong with Washington, and if elected to the Senate will shake up how business is done in the Capitol... Pennsylvania voters will face a choice between a Democrat who is focused on creating jobs and the needs of the middle class, and an extreme right-winger who made his profits trading derivatives on Wall Street."
In Arkansas, Democratic voters were not as decisive in their choice between the incumbent, Lincoln, and Lt. Gov. Bill Halter.
Lincoln had 44 percent of the ballots with 81 percent of counties reporting, while Halter had 42 percent. The two will battle it out again in a June 8 runoff because neither received at least 50 percent.
Whoever wins the runoff will face Rep. John Boozman, who beat a crowded field of seven other contenders in the GOP primary with 46 percent of the vote.
Lincoln, the first woman to chair the Senate Agriculture Committee, is up for a tougher general election campaign if she wins the primary. Polls before the primary had her trailing all eight Republicans vying to unseat her.
"Huge pickup opportunity for Republicans," the NRSC tweeted.
Republicans are hoping for continued fallout from the healthcare debate to give them a victory similar to their win in Massachusetts early this year, when Democrats lost a Senate seat held by the Kennedy family for five decades.
Lincoln is a centrist Democrat who is facing the ire of liberals for openly opposing a public option plan in Democratic healthcare proposals. She has also been the target of unions for "fence-sitting" as Democrats tried last year to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that would have made it easier for workers to organize.
"Let's make the rest of this campaign what it should be, a competition between two candidates and not a free-for-all among outside groups," Lincoln told supporters Tuesday night.
"It is safe to say that the D.C. unions are unhappy with me because I don't agree with them all of the time," she added. "I have earned a position in the Senate that can truly be an asset for our state. As the first Arkansan ever to chair the committee in its 184-year history I am committed to making it Arkansas's pipeline to more jobs."
Incumbents are faced with a continuing tide of public distrust of Washington and fallout from the contentious healthcare debate at a difficult time of economic recovery.
Last week veteran lawmakers from both parties were forced to end their careers in Congress. Sen. Bob Bennett (R-UT) failed to gain the nomination of the Utah GOP, while Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV) lost the Democratic primary in the Mountain State.
The tables were turned for Republicans in the primary in Kentucky, where an outlander easily defeated the choice of party leaders.
Rand Paul, an eye surgeon and the son of Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), received 58.77 percent of votes, with 99 percent of counties reporting.
Secretary of State Trey Grayson garnered a little over half of the support for Paul, 35.44 percent, despite having endorsements from the top Republican in the Senate, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), former Vice President Dick Cheney and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Paul was a favorite of Tea Party activists, and had the backing of Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
The general election will pit him against state Attorney General Jack Conway, who narrowly bested Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo in the Democratic primary.
The NRSC praised Paul as "an independent-minded leader" and expressed confidence it would keep the seat currently occupied by retiring Sen. Jim Bunning.
Paul "is committed to fighting for fiscal responsibility, lower taxes, and smaller government in Washington in order to grow our economy and create much-needed jobs in the Bluegrass State," Cornyn said. "The Democrats’ Senate nominee, Jack Conway, represents quite the opposite... Conway garnered the establishment’s support by promising to rubberstamp President Obama and Harry Reid’s out-of-control economic agenda if he’s elected this November."
Copyright © 2003 - 2010 AHN - All rights reserved.Redistribution, republication. syndication, rewriting or broadcast is prohibited without the prior written consent of AHN.License AHN news for your website, business, digital signage network or publication.
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