Senate, Tea Party | featured news

The Tea Party Express plans to spend "six figures" on the Alaska general election for U.S. Senate, the group said Monday in Anchorage.

A win certified Wednesday in the Senate primary in New Hampshire for a candidate backed by the Republican establishment helped offset earlier primary election victories in Delaware and New York by Tea Party-backed insurgents. In New Hampshire, former attorney general Kelly Ayotte was named the winner in the Republican primary for Senate, marking a narrow victory over conservative lawyer Ovide Lamontagne, who campaigned with the support of Tea Party activists. Ayotte had the support of the Republican Party and former Alaska governorSarah Palin in her bid for the seat held by retiring GOP Sen. Judd Gregg. Ayotte will face off in November against Rep. Paul Hodes, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Senator Lisa Murkowski conceded in her Republican primary race to Joe Miller, a lawyer from Fairbanks backed by Tea Party activists and Sarah Palin.

John McCain sailed to nomination for a fifth Senate term Tuesday over an Arizona challenger with tea party support, while big-spending political novice Rick Scott beat an insider in Florida's Republican gubernatorial primary as voters split on the merits of establishment candidates vs. outsiders.

The conservative Tea Party movement in the US blocks a Republican senator from Utah in his re-election bid. Sen Bennett came third at a Republican Party convention in Salt Lake City.

A New Jersey appeals court is allowing a conservative tea party group to proceed with an effort to throw a Democratic U.S. senator out of office.

The Republican race to unseat Barbara Boxer was always volatile, with a multimillionaire businesswoman and a scrappy candidate embraced by the "tea party" movement competing for the right to challenge the three-term senator. But former Rep. Tom Campbell's late entry into the Republican primary seven weeks ago has markedly altered the dynamics of the race.