Tea party enjoys successful primary day
Published 10:36 pm Tuesday, September 14, 2010
WASHINGTON — Virtually unknown a month ago, Christine O’Donnell rode a surge of support from tea party activists to victory in Delaware’s Republican Senate primary Tuesday night, dealing yet another setback to the GOP establishment in a campaign season full of them. A second outsider led narrowly for the GOP nomination in New Hampshire.
O’Donnell defeated nine-term Rep. Mike Castle, a fixture in Delaware politics for a generation and a political moderate. Republican Party officials, who had touted him as their only hope for winning the seat in the fall, made clear as the votes were being counted they would not provide O’Donnell funding in the general election campaign.
She enters the fall campaign as an underdog to Chris Coons, a county executive who was unopposed for the Democratic nomination. The Republican state chairman, Tom Ross, said recently O’Donnell “could not be elected dogcatcher,” and records surfaced during the campaign showing that the IRS had once slapped a lien against her and that her house had been headed for foreclosure. She also claimed falsely to have carried two of the state’s counties in a race against Vice President Joe Biden six years ago.
With unemployment high and President Barack Obama’s popularity below 50 percent, Republicans said a run of hotly contested primaries this spring and summer reflected voter enthusiasm that will serve the party well in the fall. The GOP needs to win 40 seats to take the House and 10 for control of the Senate.
Democrats countered that the presence of tea party-supported Republicans on the ballot on Nov. 2 would prove costly to the GOP.
Some highlights from Tuesday’s primaries:
In a main marquee race of the night, for New Hampshire’s Republican Senate nomination, lawyer Ovide Lamontagne — who campaigned with the support of tea party activists — was leading former Attorney General Kelly Ayotte, 42 percent to 37 percent, with nearly a quarter of votes counted.
Political novice Carl Paladino, a wealthy developer who enjoyed tea party support, defeated Rep. Rick Lazio for the Republican nomination for New York governor. Democratic Attorney General Andrew Cuomo faced no opposition for the party’s nomination for governor
Also in New York, 40-year veteran Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel faced the voters for the first time since the House ethics committee accused him of 13 violations, most of them relating to his personal finances. He was announced the winner; early returns showed him with 45 percent, more than double the total of his closest pursuer.
In Wisconsin, businessman Ron Johnson defeated two minor opponents for the Republican nomination to oppose three-term Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold in November in what polls show is a tight race.
A former reality TV star will take on a Wisconsin state senator in November in the state’s most hotly contested congressional race. Republican Sean Duffy — starred in the MTV series “The Real World: Boston” in 1997 and and served as the Ashland County district attorney — and Democrat Julie Lassa both easily beat lesser-known opponents in primaries Tuesday.
Democratic New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch rolled to renomination for a fourth term, and will face John Stephen, a former state health commissioner who won the GOP line on the ballot easily.
In Maryland, former Republican Gov. Bob Ehrlich won the nomination for a rematch against the man who ousted him from office in 2006, Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley.
