Specter Loses Senate Bid

Tea Party favorite Rand Paul, son of Ron Paul (R-Tex.), won the Republican Senate nomination for Kentucky, in the first results of Tuesday night’s primaries. Paul was running against “establishment favorite” Trey Grayson for Sen. Jim Bunning’s seat. Bunning will be retiring. Attorney General Jack Conway beat out Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo in the Democratic nomination race. In the hotly contested Democratic Senate primary race in Pennsylvania, Rep. Joe Sestak nosed out long-time incumbent Arlen Specter, who had switched parties just last year in hopes of bettering his chances of making it to the midterm elections. Sestak with face Republican Pat Toomey, who won his party's Senate nomination in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania also held a special election for the late Rep. John Murtha's seat, which went to Democrat Mark Critz. The race was "viewed as a bellwether election for the fall campaign," reports Politico. In Arkansas, neither Sen. Blanche Lincoln nor Lt. Gov. Bill Halter mustered 50 percent of their party's nomination and will have to face each other in a special runoff election June 8.