Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnel speaks to supporters Monday, May 19, 2014, at a fly-in at the Bowling Green-Warren County Regional Airport in Bowling Green, Ky.2014 Georgia primary elections results
Georgia Democratic Senate candidate, Michelle Nunn talks with reporters during a stop to greet campaign workers and supporters at South DeKalb Community Achievement Center ahead of the state’s May 20 primary election, Tuesday, May 13, 2014, in Decatur, Ga.WASHINGTON – Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell dispatched his tea party challenger with ease Tuesday night, and Democrats turned to two women, Alison Lundergan Grimes to oppose him in Kentucky and Michelle Nunn to fight for Georgia, in elections next fall with control of the Senate at stake.
Setting up a third high-profile race, Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas and his Republican challenger, Rep. Tom Cotton, were unopposed for their parties’ nominations.
On the busiest primary night of the year to date, Democrats eyeing a return to power in the Pennsylvania state Capitol nominated businessman Tom Wolf to oppose Republican Gov. Tom Corbett’s bid for a second term.
Republican primary struggles between establishment-backed conservatives and tea party-favored rivals were a dominant feature of the evening, as they had been earlier in North Carolina and will be later in Mississippi, Kansas and Alaska. Republicans must gain six seats to win a Senate majority, and party leaders have made it a priority to avoid the presence of candidates on the ballot this fall who are seen as too conservative or unsteady – or both – to prevail in winnable races.