But here's USA Today, "Tea Party challengers fall short in primaries":
Sen. Mitch McConnell decisively shut down a primary challenge to his 30-year tenure as the Republican choice for Senate in Kentucky. The Associated Press called the race for McConnell minutes after the last polls closed in the state Tuesday evening.Also, "How GOP incumbents beat Tea Party rebellion."
McConnell's primary victory over businessman and Tea Party challenger Matt Bevin was one of several for the mainstream GOP Tuesday in primary races around the country that have at times suggested the party is at war with itself. In Georgia, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Idaho, Tea Party-backed candidates also lost to establishment favorites.
McConnell raised more than twice as much money as Bevin, which he used to hammer his rival with attack ads. He also got a boost from his Kentucky colleague Sen. Rand Paul, also a Tea Party favorite.
Even before Tuesday's voting, McConnell's campaign had turned its focus to well-funded Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes. Grimes, Kentucky's secretary of State, won her primary Tuesday with little opposition.
McConnell will need to bring Bevin's supporters into his fold as he takes on Grimes, says political scientist Ernest Yanarella of the University of Kentucky. "I suspect the Tea Party may prove to be sore losers. They could very well just sit out the Senate election itself and that would certainly be bad news for him." ...
In a crowded field in the Georgia Republican Senate primary, businessman David Perdue and U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston advanced to a July 22 runoff. Coming up short: Reps. Paul Broun and Phil Gingrey and former secretary of State Karen Handel, who had been endorsed by conservative firebrand Sarah Palin.
Georgia Democrats nominated Michelle Nunn, daughter of former Georgia senator Sam Nunn, whose name and fundraising strength have given Democrats hope for a competitive race in a traditionally red state.
Like the Kentucky race, a split between Republican factions was on the ballot in Oregon, where surgeon Monica Wehby defeated state Rep. Jason Conger in the race to oppose incumbent Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley. Wehby was backed by 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, and Conger had been endorsed by Rick Santorum, the 2012 candidate who beat Romney in Iowa.
Incumbents held off Tea Party challenges in Pennsylvania, where seven-term Rep. Bill Shuster defeated retired Coast Guard Capt. Art Halvorson, and in Idaho, where eight-term Rep. Mike Simpson defeated lawyer Bryan Smith...
More at Legal Insurrection, "Primary Night: McConnell wins (KY), Perdue-Kingston Runoff (GA), Wehby (OR)."
Dems tried to destroy Monica Wehby with vicious smears alleging she stalked her ex-husband. At Politico, "Second harassment accusation vs. Monica Wehby," and "Monica Wehby wins Oregon GOP Senate nomination."
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