Todays primaries in KY and PA featured 5 Fighting Dems in each state. The vets had a strong showing in PA, but struggled in KY.
In KY-01, Desert Storm vet Eric Streit lost badly to Tom Barlow. In KY-02, retired Colonel Mike Weaver scored a solid victory with 72% against Jim Rice. In KY-03, Iraq vet Andrew Horne failed by 20% against John Yarmuth. Air Force vet and former Congressman Ken Lucas was unopposed for the nomination in KY-04, which is regularly listed as a major pickup opportunity. Vietnam era vet Ken Stepp won with 70% in KY-05 over James Tapley.
With about 2/3s of the vote, Iraq and Bosnia vet Patrick Murphy appears to be a winner in PA-08. Naval vet Tom Kovach in PA-18 has a comfortable lead over Chad Kluko.
The other 3 Fighting Dems in PA have won their nominations unopposed. Vice Admiral Joe Sestak (07) will challenge the nutty Curt Weldon. Vietnam vet Phil Avillo will challenge Todd Platts in 19. In what might be the biggest story of the night, intelligence analyst and counterterrorism expert Chris Carney clearly has strong prospects in 10 against the ethically challenged Don Sherwood, who failed to break 60% in his primary against an unknown. This is definitely now a top tier race.