With only Hawaii left on the 2010 primary calendar, let's kick off this post-primary Wednesday by throwing together the highlight reel for those who weren't glued to their computers on Tuesday night.
By the way...congratulations to New Hampshire, where vote tabulating is not done by computers. Apparently, judging from the rate at which returns have been reported (14 hours later, we are still only at 85% reporting), they are still using this thing.
On with the countdown (though those who just want the hard numbers can click here)...
- DELAWARE: The race that everyone will be talking about for quite some time. In the GOP Senate primary, tea party vehicle (and masturbation opponent) Christine O'Donnell scored the upset (53-47) over longtime Congressman Mike Castle. In a sign of how rough the sailing could be for O'Donnell, Tom Jensen of PPP tweeted that their poll (due out today) shows that Democrat Chris Coons had a 44-28 lead over O'Donnell.
With Mike Castle voters.
That might explain why leading DC pundits Stu Rothenberg and Charlie Cook shifted the race into the Democratic column before the confetti was swept up at O'Donnell HQ last night (Rothenberg to "Leans Democrat", Cook to "Likely Democrat")
Suffice to say, O'Donnell's task of party unity might be something of an uphill slog, especially given the almost immediate revelation that Castle has no intention of endorsing the newly-designated Republican nominee.
In the GOP House primary to pick an opponent for Dem nominee John Carney, there was also a minor upset, as real estate developer Glen Urquhart defeated NRCC establishment fave Michelle Rollins by a single point (49-48). Either of them were underdogs to Carney, in what is the most likely House seat in the nation to flip from Republican to Democrat.
- MARYLAND: One place where Mama Grizzly's magic wand came nowhere close to turning a frog into a prince was in the state of Maryland, where her anointed gubernatorial candidate (Brian Murphy) was blasted by comeback-minded former Governor Robert Ehrlich (76-24). Ehrlich is a very slight underdog in the general election to incumbent Democrat Martin O'Malley. Meanwhile, Barbara Mikulski learned the identity of her next Republican victim. Physician Eric Wargotz, who dumped half a million bucks into his race, won by eight points (39-31) over lawyer Jim Rutledge. As expected, Club For Growth darling Andy Harris earned another shot at Frank Kratovil in MD-01, and did so by a wide margin. That could be another razor-thin race, as it was in 2008, when Kratovil won by a single point.
- MASSACHUSETTS: All eyes will be on the gubernatorial race here in November, but all three candidates (Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick, Republican Charlie Baker, and Democrat-turned-Indie candidate Tim Cahill) had free rides on Tuesday. The marquee race in November is in the open 10th district, and both candidates last night were expected to be somewhat close. Only one wound up being so: on the Democratic side, local D.A. Bill Keating scored a 51-49 victory over state legislator Robert O'Leary. On the GOP side, however, it was a wipeout, as state legislator Jeff Perry pounded former state treasurer Joe Malone (62-29). In the 9th district, Stephen Lynch (the anti-HCR Democratic incumbent) survived a primary from former union political director Mac D'Alessandro. Lynch was held to 65% of the vote. For your amusement: Barney Frank easily (80-20) won his primary with Rachel Brown, the LaRouche devotee Frank first met when he upbraided her for referring to HCR as a "Nazi policy" during a 2009 town hall.
- NEW HAMPSHIRE: It took till well past Midnight eastern time, but as the night turned to morning, establishment pick Kelly Ayotte headed back from the brink and pulled ahead of right-wing insurgent candidate Ovide Lamontagne. Ayotte leads with 38% of the vote, to 37% of the vote for Lamontagne. Ayotte, if she holds on, will Democratic Congressman Paul Hodes, who was unopposed. The battle for Governor was also determined, as incumbent Democrat John Lynch gets challenged by former state HHS Commissioner John Stephen. In the competitive House races, there is still some uncertainty in the 1st district, where it looks like incumbent Democrat Carol Shea-Porter looks like she will get former Manchester Mayor Frank Guinta, who squeaked through his primary with 32% of the vote. In the 2nd district, O2B candidate Ann Kuster defeated Katrina Swett in a surprisingly dominant fashion (71-29), while former GOP Congressman Charlie Bass limped home in his comeback bid. While he secured the nomination, it was with an underwhelming 43% of the vote.
- NEW YORK: Andrew Cuomo has spent most of 2010 wondering how he could be so lucky. The Democratic nominee for Governor was blessed with a pair of train wrecks running on the GOP side. In the final analysis, upstate beat downstate, and teabagging businessman Carl Paladino is the GOP
victim nominee. He defeated former Congressman Rick Lazio by a surprisingly wide margin (62-38). There were two GOP Senate primaries, as both Democratic incumbents face the voters this Fall (because Kirsten Gillibrand was appointed, rather than elected, she had to be up for election in the next available federal cycle). Former Congressman Joe DioGuardi will lose to Gillibrand, while political strategist Jay Townsend will lose to Chuck Schumer. Downballot, Bill Owens is blessed yet again. The first Democrat to represent the counties of the 23rd district in a century or two will once again likely face split opposition, as right-wing ideologue Doug Hoffman lost his GOP primary bid to Matt Doheny. True to his little teabagging heart, Hoffman had pledged before the primary to press on until November as the nominee of the Conservative Party. In other GOP primary news, three potentially competitive November races were finalized, as the party nominated Randy Altschuler (NY-01), Mike Grimm (NY-13), and Nan Hayworth (NY-19). Scandal-tinged Charlie Rangel is likely headed to a 21st (!) term in the House, after winning renomination with 51% of the vote.
- RHODE ISLAND: The battle for Governor is set. Democrat Frank Caprio and Republican-turned-Indie Lincoln Chafee are now to be joined by former GOP gubernatorial aide John Robataille. Downballot, one of the uglier primaries in the country was finalized, as Providence's Democratic Mayor, David Cicilline, won by a fairly sizeable margin over the man who was lobbing the largest bombs at him, businessman Anthony Gemma (37-23). Cicilline will be favored in November against Republican John Loughlin. The incumbent in the most trouble tonight, somewhat surprisingly, was 2nd district Democrat Jim Langevin, who won renomination with only 57% of the vote.
- WISCONSIN: If there was a single state that went totally according to plan last night, it was the state of Wisconsin. In the gubernatorial primaries, both Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (D) and Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker (R) won their primaries. Barrett only had nuisance opposition (which he dispatched with 90% of the vote), while Walker had a relatively easy time with former Congressman Mark Neumann (59-39). On the Senate side, Ron Johnson thrashed businessman Dave Westlake (84-11) for the GOP nomination. He faces Democratic incumbent Russ Feingold in November. Key House races for the fall were finalized. In the open 7th district upstate, Democratic state legislator Julie Lassa and Republican attorney (and former reality show contestant) Sean Duffy will go heads-up. In the Green Bay-based 8th district, incumbent Democrat Steve Kagen will get after it with roofing contractor Reed Ribble.