Key Results from Tuesday’s Primary Elections

While there were some big surprises in this week’s primaries and special elections, the biggest surprise was Sen. Thad Cochran’s (R) come-from-behind victory in the Mississippi run-off.  The battle over the Senate will be fought by a Republican Party that saw strong general election candidates win in all Senate primaries. Conservative groups spent millions to beat Republicans (for instance the Club for Growth spent almost $4 million against Republicans this year while spending less than $900,000 against Democrats) but had little impact on the election outcomes thus far. Check below for a state-by-state breakdown of the results. With the exception of run-offs in Alabama (7/15), Georgia (7/22) and North Carolina (7/15), primary elections now take a hiatus for the month of July. They start back up on August 5 in Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Washington. Colorado Former Rep. Bob Beauprez won the Republican nomination for governor Tuesday night, scoring a 30-27-23-20 percent win over former Rep. Tom Tancredo, Secretary of State Scott Gessler and former state Senate Minority Leader Mike Kopp. Beauprez will challenge Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) this November. In the congressional races, Weld County District Attorney and 2010 U.S. Senate nominee Ken Buck won the Republican nomination in Rep. Cory Gardner's seat (Gardner is running for Senate). Buck defeated state Sen. Scott Renfroe, Weld County Commissioner Barbara Kirkmeyer and former Cranston, RI mayor Steve Laffey to become the party nominee in November. Elsewhere, Rep. Scott Tipton (R) easily won his re-nomination primary, while incumbent Doug Lamborn (R) barely beat former General Bentley Rayburn, 53-47 percent. Both Congressmen are heavy favorites to win their respective general elections. Florida With just under 100,000 votes being cast, the final pre-November special election was held last night in the Cape Coral/Ft. Myers district. GOP businessman Curt Clawson won in convincing fashion, 67-29 percent, against public relations executive April Freeman (D). Rep-elect Clawson succeeds resigned-Rep. Trey Radel (R) and will be sworn into office later this week. He now must begin campaigning immediately for a full term. Clawson will again face Freeman in the fall. Maryland As expected, Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown easily won the Democratic primary for Governor (51-24-22 percent) against Attorney General Doug Gansler and state Delegate Heather Mizeur. Brown began as the early favorite to replace term-limited Gov. Martin O'Malley (D). He is expected to win in November over perennial Republican nominee Larry Hogan and become the state's first African American governor. Mississippi Defying all pollsters' projections, veteran Sen. Thad Cochran rebounded after failing to capture a majority of the vote in the June 3 primary election to win the Mississippi run-off campaign. State Sen. Chris McDaniel came within a staggering one-half percent of claiming the Republican nomination in the primary vote, but failed to capitalize on his early momentum. Virtually all published polling projected the 42-year congressional veteran to be falling significantly behind his Tea Party-backed Republican challenger. Yet, the actual results gave the incumbent a 51-49 percent victory. Cochran will now face former Rep. Travis Childers (D) in the general election. With Sen. Cochran now on the general election ballot, Childers' chances are dim. New York In the Harlem district, veteran Rep. Charlie Rangel (D) won his quest for a 23rd term in office, an election cycle in which the veteran says will be his last. Rep. Rangel defeated state Senator Adriano Espaillat 47-44 percent in Tuesday’s Democratic primary. Last night's vote is the determining factor in this district. The general election will only be a pro forma affair. Elsewhere in New York, state Sen. Lee Zeldin defeated wealthy attorney George Demos for the opportunity of challenging potentially vulnerable Rep. Tim Bishop (D). The Congressman had a close call in 2010 (a 48.7-48.4 percent victory over Republican Randy Altschuler). Another contentious midterm is possible. In the open 4th District, as expected, Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice won the Democratic congressional primary, topping Nassau County legislator Kevan Abrahams, 56-44 percent. Ms. Rice will win the general election and replace retiring Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D). Former White House aide Elise Stefanik defeated Matt Doheny – who ran in 2010 and 2012 as an Independent – to become the Republican nominee for retiring Rep. Bill Owens’ (D) seat. This could mean another dangerous three-way election ensues, the type that has thrown the seat to Democrats since then-Rep. John McHugh (R) resigned in 2009 after becoming U.S. Army Secretary. The Democratic nominee Aaron Woolf was unopposed for his party's nomination. Rep. Richard Hanna (R) won a close GOP nomination campaign (53-47 percent) over state Assemblywoman Claudia Tenney. However, despite Tenney receiving the Conservative Party endorsement, this race will not continue onto the general election as Tenney failed to return the requisite number of valid petitions to secure a spot on the ballot. Neither the Democrats nor the Working Families Party filed a candidate in this district. Oklahoma Rep. James Lankford (R) finished strong with a 57-34 percent victory over former state House Speaker T.W. Shannon to secure the Republican nomination for Senate. Lankford will coast to a general election victory in November. In Rep. Lankford's open 5th Congressional District, businessman Steve Russell came from well back to secure the first run-off position. He will face state Corporation Commissioner Patrice Douglas in an August 26 election. The district's Republican voting history makes the eventual GOP nominee the prohibitive favorite for November. For more information, please contact David Ashinoff at (202) 547-5013 or ashinoffd@agc.org.