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Election 2010: Senate Primaries in Indiana, Ohio and North Carolina

Posted on | May 4, 2010 | 7 Comments

10:45 p.m. ET: It’s all over for progressive Jennifer Brunner, who got electorally date-raped by the Democratic Party good ol’ boy establishment:

Fisher outperformed Brunner in fundraising, had the support of Gov. Ted Strickland (D) and was the preferred candidate of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. . . .
One of Fisher’s top priorities is to forge party unity with Brunner, who accused Fisher’s allies of trying to push her out of the primary, and to replenish his campaign fund to stay competitive with Portman, who had nearly $7 million more in the bank than Fisher as of mid-April.

Let’s hope Brunner tells Fisher to shove his “party unity” where the sun don’t shine. Tell him to beg campaign cash by peddling his corrupt ass to Tim Geithner’s buddies at Goldman Sachs, so he can buy a bunch of TV ads telling Ohio what an “independent voice” he is.

10:30 p.m. ET: Yep — definitely a runoff in North Carolina. With 92% of counties reporting, it’s Marshall 36%, Cunningham 27%. So, who gets the runoff endorsement of Lewis? My guess is he’ll back the establishment candidate, Cunningham, although I doubt that endorsement will actually swing many votes. And if Cunningham can’t beat Marshall head-to-head with the DSCC’s thumb on the scales, how strong is he, anyway? All in all, the omens favor Burr’s re-election.

9:55 p.m. ET: With two-thirds of counties reporting in North Carolina, it’s old white woman Elaine Marshall 37%, establishment-backed white guy Cal Cunningham 27%, and idealistic black guy Ken Lewis 16%. So the two crackers are likely heading to the Democratic runoff, which pretty much guarantees a weak Democratic turnout in November. Life is good.

9:45 p.m. ET: Chris Cilizza on the Fisher-Brunner mess:

In Ohio, Fisher quickly united state and national party leaders behind his candidacy but struggled to put away the challenge from Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner.
National Democrats insist that Fisher had righted the ship a few months ago with a change in campaign manager but his fundraising in the first three months was weak and, as a result, fell further behind former Rep. Rob Portman (R) in the chase for campaign cash.

Fisher emerges from the primary weakened, having spent $1 million to crush Brunner’s dream — demoralizing and alienating her progressive supporters — while Portman is sitting there like a GOP Godzilla ready to go stomping through Tokyo. Life is good.

9:26 p.m. ET — Happy, happy, joy, joy! In Ohio’s Democratic primary, the sold-out establishment candidate, Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, is crushing the progressive dreams of nutroots favorite Jennifer Brunner. With 23% of precincts reporting, it’s Fisher 56%, Brunner 44%, confirming suspicions of the Democratic “base” that their party is controlled by a corrupt elite.

9:20 p.m. ET — With 29 percent of precincts reporting in the North Carolina Democratic primary, Elaine Marshall is at 39% — just shy of the 40% needed to avoid a runoff. She’s easily leading the DSCC’s favorite candidate, Cal Cunningham, and the black community’s favorite candidate, Ken Lewis. Not very likely any of them can beat incumbent Republican Sen. Richard Burr, but the inherent divisiveness of the Democratic primary — the establishment backing the white guy against the old lady and the black guy — is good news for conservatives. A runoff would be sheer heaven.

9:10 p.m. ET – Wow, that was quick — Coats wins Indiana GOP primary:

Former Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) has won the Republican primary for his old seat, holding off a late charge from a state senator with conservative backing.
Coats led state Sen. Marlin Stutzman 40-30 with 65 percent of precincts reporting. The race has been called for Coats.

7:15 p.m. ET – Polls just closed in Indiana and so far — from the Indiana Secretary of State’s office — it’s Dan Coats 5,479 (54%), Marlin Stutzman 3,101 (31%) and John Hostetler 1,072 (11%). Obviously, these are just the very earliest returns. Polls in North Carolina and Ohio close at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Category: Election, Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio

Comments

7 Responses to “Election 2010: Senate Primaries in Indiana, Ohio and North Carolina”

  1. Estragon
    May 5th, 2010 @ 8:19 am

    Coats wins in Indiana, with Stutzman a rising second. It’s probably the best practical outcome possible for Republicans.

    We avoided the wacky Hotstettler, and put in an old reliable conservative hand who can command national fundraising, the clearest way to take the Democratic (Bayh) seat.

    Meanwhile, Stutzman gets great publicity, introduces himself to Indiana while making waves among conservatives nationwide, and will be ready for another run in 2012. If Lugar retires, as has been rumored, he would probably be the frontrunner.

  2. Estragon
    May 5th, 2010 @ 3:19 am

    Coats wins in Indiana, with Stutzman a rising second. It’s probably the best practical outcome possible for Republicans.

    We avoided the wacky Hotstettler, and put in an old reliable conservative hand who can command national fundraising, the clearest way to take the Democratic (Bayh) seat.

    Meanwhile, Stutzman gets great publicity, introduces himself to Indiana while making waves among conservatives nationwide, and will be ready for another run in 2012. If Lugar retires, as has been rumored, he would probably be the frontrunner.

  3. Rick
    May 5th, 2010 @ 2:36 pm

    All the Coats victory does for Indiana (where I live, by the way) is *greatly* increase the likelihood that Brad Ellsworth will win the Senate seat. Coats couldn’t be much worse: He’s old, and looks older than he is; he’s a lobbyist and Washington insider (which is why the GOP leaders put him in the race); he tried to put Bush crony Harriet Miers on the Supreme Court. The people like Erick Erickson and Jim DeMint who inflated Stutzman – even though he couldn’t win – instead of backing Hostettler are now trying to spin this race as some sort of victory for conservatism. “Coats was gonna win all along, but now Stutzman MIGHT win IF Lugar retires.” Pathetic. The only reality is that they split the conservative ticket and gave us Coats. If non-Hoosiers had kept their nose out of this primary, there’s a good chance Indiana would have a solid conservative senator after Novemeber. Now there is NO chance of that, and an even chance that we will have a liberal Democrat. Idiots.

  4. Rick
    May 5th, 2010 @ 9:36 am

    All the Coats victory does for Indiana (where I live, by the way) is *greatly* increase the likelihood that Brad Ellsworth will win the Senate seat. Coats couldn’t be much worse: He’s old, and looks older than he is; he’s a lobbyist and Washington insider (which is why the GOP leaders put him in the race); he tried to put Bush crony Harriet Miers on the Supreme Court. The people like Erick Erickson and Jim DeMint who inflated Stutzman – even though he couldn’t win – instead of backing Hostettler are now trying to spin this race as some sort of victory for conservatism. “Coats was gonna win all along, but now Stutzman MIGHT win IF Lugar retires.” Pathetic. The only reality is that they split the conservative ticket and gave us Coats. If non-Hoosiers had kept their nose out of this primary, there’s a good chance Indiana would have a solid conservative senator after Novemeber. Now there is NO chance of that, and an even chance that we will have a liberal Democrat. Idiots.

  5. RightKlik
    May 5th, 2010 @ 5:47 pm

    Republicans don’t need to play it safe this year. There’s no need to send candidates like Coats to the general elections. Democrats are weak. We can win with principled conservatives even if some of them have less name recognition.

    KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE BALL, Conservatives!!

  6. RightKlik
    May 5th, 2010 @ 12:47 pm

    Republicans don’t need to play it safe this year. There’s no need to send candidates like Coats to the general elections. Democrats are weak. We can win with principled conservatives even if some of them have less name recognition.

    KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE BALL, Conservatives!!

  7. Ohio: Fisher (D) vs. Portman (R) Announced for November’s PCW Extreme Election Night 2010 « Political Championship Wrestling
    May 6th, 2010 @ 6:47 pm

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