Last Night’s Big Loser: National Republicans

In Kentucky, the national Republican Party backed the wrong candidate in not one but two primaries. The Democrats managed to hold on to Rep. John Murtha’s old seat in Pennsylvania. And while Sen. Arlen Specter is no longer a Republican, his defeat by Rep. Joe Sestak in the Democratic primary means the GOP nominee will face, perhaps, a much stronger opponent than the beleaguered Specter would have been.

It was a rough night for the Republicans.

No one suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune more than Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. His hand-picked candidate was trounced by tea partier Rand Paul in the Kentucky Senate primary. McConnell’s pick, Trey Grayson, only got 35% of the vote despite his party’s backing. Grayson even lost in his home county.

In a smaller, but no less telling, Louisville House district primary last night, NRCC choice Jeff Reetz came in third in a primary to challenge Rep. John Yarmuth. Reetz only got 17% of the vote.

In Pennsylvania, Democrats managed to deny Republicans what would have been a symbolic taking of the 12th district seat once held by the late Rep. John Murtha. There, Mark Critz (D) narrowly won the special election over Tim Burns (R), 53% to 45% with 99% of precincts reporting. Burns reportedly called Critz to concede before the Associated Press had even called the race.

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Last Night’s Big Loser: National Republicans | TPMDC.