Political novice Rand Paul rode support from tea party activists to a rout in Kentucky’s Republican Senate primary Tuesday night, jolting the GOP establishment. Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter struggled for political survival in Pennsylvania, a five-term incumbent offering experience to voters clamoring for change.
Another Democratic incumbent, Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln, led narrowly in early returns in her race for nomination to a third term, but she risked being thrown into a run-off.
In a fourth race with national implications, Democrat Mark Critz moved ahead of Republican Tim Burns in a contest to fill out the final few months in the term of the late Rep. John Murtha in Pennsylvania. Each political party invested nearly $1 million in that contest and said the race to succeed the longtime Democratic lawmaker was something of a bellwether for the fall.