Evans Liberal Politics, August 25, 2010, by Paul Evans. This article used material from The Huffington Post, August 24 Primary Election: A Look At The Day’s Hottest Races, August 24, 2010, by Elyse Siegel, excerpts quoted verbatim. Photo of McCain is public domain from Wikipedia, by Raustadt:

Arizona Senate Primary in Focus:

The most closely watched race has to be in Arizona, where perennial Senator and presidential hopeful John McCain beat back a challenge from former U.S. Congressman J.D. Hayworth, who is more of a right wing, Tea Party type than John McCain. McCain spent a whopping $20 million (or $21 million) to beat back the challenge, but has managed to stay fairly comfortably ahead in the polls, and easily won renomination.

From HuffPo: “‘Do you think it takes that much to win?’ Politics Daily’s Jill Lawrence asked McCain last week. His reply: ‘Well, I don’t know. But I’ve always done whatever’s necessary to win.’”

Well, almost always. The year 2008 comes to mind, Senator.

Now with 99 percent of the vote, McCain has won by a margin of 56 percent to J.D. Hayworth’s 32 percent.

Politics Daily’s Top Five Reason’s Why McCain Was Likely to Come Out On Top:

1. McCain was the Republican presidential nominee just two years ago. People rally around the party’s standard bearer, and there must be a psychological disincentive to rejecting the man you voted for in 2008 for president. More than that, though, being a presidential nominee comes with tremendous institutional advantages, which McCain availed himself of during this primary campaign.

2. J.D. Hayworth was a flawed candidate. Hayworth’s image was damaged when a video of him appearing in an infomercial offering “free money” (YouTube video) surfaced.

3. McCain avoided facing top-tier opponents. Conservative Arizona Reps. Jeff Flake, John Shadegg and Trent Franks all decided not to challenge McCain. Their entry would have likely meant The Club for Growth would have spent millions to defeat McCain. But not only did these three conservatives not oppose McCain — they endorsed him.

Also endorsing and campaigning for McCain was Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl, No. 2 Senate Republican leader, (also from Arizona). Kyl actually became general chairman of McCain’s 2010 re-election bid. (He apparently did a pretty good job, too.)

4. Money. McCain has reportedly spent around $21 million during this primary season — a lot of money, to be sure. Around $7.5 million of that was transferred from his presidential campaign.

5. Sarah Palin. John McCain made Palin a household name when he selected her as his running mate, and she returned the favor by endorsing him and campaigning for him. It is unclear how important her endorsement was. Palin’s support may have helped stanch the argument that Hayworth was the Tea Party conservative. But just imagine if Palin had decided to sit this one out, or worse, to endorse Hayworth.

HuffPo summarized Hayworth’s flawed campaign and McCain’s counterpunching: “As Hayworth touted conservative principles and Tea Party ties, McCain seemed to shift to the right. From immigration reform to repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the longtime Republican lawmaker found himself walking back — and in some cases flip-flopping — on a host of issues.” This harder line taken by McCain on key conservative issues, as well as Hayworth’s mini-scandal on his “free money” video, seemed to blunt the far right Tea Party candidate’s momentum, as McCain’s change of tune did him no harm and probably a lot of good.

Arizona Democratic Primary Election Results for Senate

The Democratic Primary in Arizona features four different candidates:

Voters are choosing between Rodney Glassman, Randy Parraz, John Dougherty and Cathy Eden.

Until recently, Glassman was considered to the the frontrunner in the four-way race; however, a poll recently commissioned by Parraz’s campaign suggested that the Democratic nomination may still be up for grabs.

The New York Time has called this race. With 99 percent of the vote in Rodney Glassman has been called the winner, taking 35 percent of the vote, to Cathy Eden’s 27 percent and John Dougherty’s 24 percent. Randy Parraz was a distant fourth with 15 percent.

On the Republican side, McCain has won the Republican primary in Arizona, and AP has the margin going almost 2 to 1 for McCain. The NY Times, with 99 percent of the vote counted, says the margin of victory for McCain was 56 percent to 32 percent over J.D. Hayworth.

Key Arizona House Races

In the Arizona House 1st District, Ann Kirkpatrick is the Democratic incumbent and ran unopposed. On the Republican side Paul Goser has been projected the winner with 100 percent of the vote in, taking 31 percent of the vote. Kirkpatrick has a big fundraising advantage and the NY Times has this race leaning Democratic.

In the Arizona 3rd House District, Representative John Shadegg, an eight-term Republican, made a surprise announcement earlier this year that he would not seek re-election. Here, after the dust settled, Democrat Jon Hubbard (who raised $776,500 and spent $350,000) will face Republican Ben Quayle, who must have faced a crowded field, winning with 23 percent of the vote. Quayle raised $1,330,000 and spent $915,000 of that. Quayle has the fundraising advantage and the NY Times has this race leaning Republican.

In the Arizona 5th House District, Democrat Harry Mitchell is the incumbent. He raised $1,453,000, spent $817,000 and has $836,000 on hand for the general election. He will be opposed by Republican David Schweikert, who won with 38 percent of the vote. Schweikert has some strange numbers in terms of campaign cash (voodoo economics): The New York Times has Schweikert having raised $408,000, spending $447,500 so far, but with $225,500 cash on hand. That’s some interesting accounting! The Times has this race leaning Democratic anyway.

In the Arizona 8th House District race, the incumbent is Democrat Gabrielle Giffords. There’s some interesting accounting here too: Giffords raised $2,236,000 and spent $1,111,000 but claims to have $1,923,000 cash on hand. Interesting. On the Republican side, Jesse Kelly has won with 49 percent of the primary vote. She must be a good fiscal officer as her accounting makes sense: She raised $566,500, spent $489,400 and has $79,000 cash on hand. The Times has this race leaning Democratic.

Election Results from Vermont:

According to The New York Times, the Democratic race for governor was a tight three-way contest.

With 92 percent of the precincts reporting, state Sen. Doug Racine, and Senate President Peter Shumlin each has roughly 25% of the vote. Shumlin leads by just 260 votes, but the margin has been increasing overnight. Deb Markowitz is only 744 votes further back with 24% of the vote. Matt Dunne trails with 21% and Sen. Susan Bartlett is well back with 5%.

Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie is the only Republican in the governor’s race. He’ll face whomever wins the Democratic nomination, in a state that has gone Republican for governor each of the last three elections.

In Other Tuesday Primaries Around the U.S.

The Guardian has called the Florida Republican race for nominee to be governor: “Rick Scott will be the Republican nominee for the Florida governor election in November.”

Florida Senate Primary:

More from the Guardian:

Scott spends his way to a win in Florida:

The big result of the night was Rick Scott winning the Republican gubernatorial nomination in Florida, an upset of sorts against an establishment candidate endorsed by (GOP) party leaders, including Jeb Bush. The very wealthy Scott spent something like $50m in the primary and can easily do so again in the general election. Alex Sink is the Florida Democratic nominee and she will need hefty outside support to have a chance.

With 99 percent of the vote in, Alex Sink took 77 percent in the Democratic primary, while on the Republican side, Rick Scott took 46 percent of the vote to Bill McCollum’s 43 percent, representing a defeat for the Republican insider establishment which had strongly backed McCollum. Essentially, Scott bought the election. ~ Paul Evans

Scott’s troubled career as head of a rapacious health insurance company may not endear him to Florida voters, and Republicans may not rally around him, as they have the tougher senate race involving Marco Rubio versus Charlie Crist to concentrate energy on.

The Guardian on the Florida Senate Race:

In Florida, in the US Senate primary – an open seat – there are no surprises in the Republican primary, where Tea Party heartthrob Marco Rubio is running away with it, having had the field largely to himself since Charlie Crist jumped ship to become an independent.

But the Democratic senate primary is the one to watch here, and it’s a mirror image of the Republican gubernatorial race. This time, wealthy evil mastermind Jeff Greene is … ah, let’s see, losing is the word, to Democratic party stalwart Kendrick Meek.

In fact AP has called Florida’s Democratic senate primary for Meek. So, great job Jeff Greene, you may as well have just taken $20m and set fire to it for all the good it has done you.

The low point of Greene’s moronic campaign was when Mike Tyson was forced to speak up to defend Greene. Yes, Mike Tyson – the boxer. When Mike Tyson is a character witness, then you are really in trouble.

See below for Florida Democratic primary election results where Kendrick Meek, a four-term congressman backed by President Obama, has defeated challenger Jeff Greene, a real estate mogul.

Florida House Races:

In the House Florida 2nd District, with 99% reporting, Allen Boyd, who is the incumbent, appears to be the winner for the Democrats taking 51 percent of the vote to challenger Al Lawson’s 49 percent, which is nonetheless a 2, 426 vote lead. For the Republicans, Steve Sutherland cruised to an easy win over four challengers, taking 47 percent of the vote.

In the House Florida 8th District, of course Democrat incumbent Alan Grayson ran uncontested and will apparently face Daniel Webster, who made an easy victory over several candidates, taking 40% of the vote (a 17 percent margin). Look for a LOT of Republican money to flow into this race against progressive crusader Grayson.

In the House Florida 17th District, historically solidly Democrat, and with 100 percent of the vote in, incumbent Kendrick B. Meek has successfully jumped up to the big leagues by winning the nomination for U.S. Senate. Here for the Dems, Frederica Wilson has cruised to an easy win over several challengers, taking 35 percent of the vote (a 21 percent margin of victory). For the Republicans, the New York Times reports that there was no primary election, and since the Democrat Meek was the incumbent, apparently the GOP will not contest this seat or else the Times didn’t report the nominee.

In the House Florida 24th District, with 99 percent of the votes in, Democratic incumbent Suzanne M. Kosmos has easily won renomination, taking 78 percent of the Democratic vote. On the Republican side, in a race still too close to call, there is a three way race. Sandra Adams leads by some 560 votes and 30 percent of the vote over Karen Diebel, who is getting 29 percent, and Craig Miller who has 28 percent. Tom Garcia and Deon Long round out the field, taking 10 percent and 3 percent respectively.

The Missouri Senate Race may go to the Republican Roy Blunt:

GOP’s Roy Blunt Posts Double-Digit Lead in Missouri Senate Race

Politics Daily reports: Seven-term Republican Rep. Roy Blunt has opened up a double-digit lead for the first time in his race against Democrat Robin Carnahan for Missouri’s Senate seat, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll conducted Aug. 23. The seat is being left open by GOP Sen. Kit Bond, who decided not to seek re-election.

Blunt leads Carnahan, the Secretary of State, by 51 percent to 40 percent with 5 percent preferring some other candidate and 4 percent undecided. The margin of error is 4 points.

Additional Late Breaking Tuesday Primary News

See Primary voters back the familiar, The Boston Globe, August 25, 2010, by Matt Viser:

US Senate candidate Kendrick Meek, a four-term congressman backed by President Obama, beat back a Democratic primary challenge from a self-made billionaire in Florida, one of several expected victories last night for the political establishment against insurgent candidates with either deep pockets or a wealth of Tea Party movement support.

…SNIP….

“Floridians sent a clear message: They want a real Democrat representing them in the US Senate,’’ said Meek, who was declared the winner early in the evening over Jeff Greene, a Worcester, Mass., native and real estate mogul. “The naysayers said we couldn’t beat a billionaire, and tonight with your help, we proved them wrong.’’

Throughout this year’s pivotal midterm primaries — from Kentucky to California, Connecticut to Colorado — insurgent outsider candidates have often had the upper hand, tapping into an electorate angry at Washington and dispirited by a deflated economy.

But last night, at least, was one for the establishment, where voters generally backed incumbents whose positions were more carefully groomed and their backgrounds generally less flamboyant than those of their challengers.

Alaska Election Results

According to the New York Times election center,, for all the open seats, U.S. Senate (Lisa Murkowski – R), Governor (Sean Parnell – R), and the at-large House seat (Don Young – R) in Alaska, are for the Republicans the incumbents seeking reelection. With 33 percent of the vote in, Murkowski trails the Republican challenger Joe Miller, who has 51 percent of the vote to Lisa Murkowski’s 49, a close race, while Sean Parnell is doing fairly well, leading with 48 percent of the vote (a 13 percent lead). For the Republican nomination in the at-large House seat, incumbent Don Young seems to be a shoe in, taking 70 percent of the vote so far.

UPDATE: In the Alaska Republican race for U.S. Senate, Lisa Murkowski, the incumbent who replaced the recently deceased Ted Stevens, is still losing to Tea Party challenger Joe Miller, 51 percent to 49 percent. Murkowski outspent Miller 7 to 1, $1,412,500 to $198,800. But Miller greatly benefited from the endorsement of Alaska favorite Sarah Palin. Palin in fact has been able to influence both this race and the Arizona Senate race, where she endorsed Senator John McCain, giving him an easy win. Miller leads by 1,960 votes out of 90,000 cast.

The Democratic (challengers) races are a little more interesting. Scott McAdams (Senate) and Ethan Berkowitz (Governor) are leading their races, with 59 percent and 54 percent of the vote, respectively although these races have not been called. McAdams lead by double digits as two challengers split the rest of the vote. Berkowitz lead by 8 points over Hollis French, who has 46 percent of the vote from Democrats for Governor. The Democratic nominee for the at-large House seat will apparently be Harry Crawford, who ran uncontested. The Times calls all three of these positions as likely to go to the Republican nominee.

The race for Alaska Governor is also decided as to the primary winners. For the Democrats, Ethan Berkowitz has won with 56 percent of the vote, to Hollis French’s 44 percent. On the Republican side Sean Parnell has been called the winner over five other office seekers, taking 49 percent of the vote.The actual election this fall is likely to go to the Republican Sean Parnell, barring a miracle for Berkowitz.

In the race for the House seat open in Alaska, Democrat Harry Crawford ran unopposed. On the Republican side, incumbent Don Young has won over Sheldon Fisher, 70 percent to 24 percent, with 6 percent going to John Cox.

See also Alaska Election Results Provide a Boost to Palin, CBS News, August 25, 2010, by Stephanie Condon, excerpt quoted verbatim:

Conservative insurgent Joe Miller may be on the verge of toppling Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the state’s Republican primary, in what could prove to be a significant victory for former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (as well as Miller, of course).

An unknown attorney from Fairbanks, Miller currently holds a slight lead over Murkowski in large part because of his support from Palin, he said Tuesday night.

“I’m absolutely certain that was pivotal,” Miller said of Palin’s endorsement, the Anchorage Daily News reports.

The Miller lead over Murkowski is still holding up 51 percent to 49 percent, with 429 or 438 precincts reporting.

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