State by State

Alabama

Republicans are headed for a pair of House race runoffs in Alabama, where wide fields of candidates diluted the vote enough in Tuesday’s primaries to keep one candidate from winning outright.

The runoffs will delay big general-election match-ups in which the Democrats already have a nominee.

{mosads}In retiring Rep. Bud Cramer’s (D) district, businessman Wayne Parker topped attorney Cheryl Baswell Guthrie 49-18 but fell just shy of avoiding the runoff.

In retiring Rep. Terry Everett’s (R) seat, state Rep. Jay Love will face state Sen. Harri Anne Smith. Love led Smith 35-22 on Tuesday.

The winners of the July 15 runoffs will face state Sen. Parker Griffith and Montgomery Mayor Bobby Bright, respectively, who cruised to victory in the far less contentious Democratic primaries.

Both races look to be competitive in November, as Democrats harbor new hope in the South following special-election victories in conservative Louisiana and Mississippi districts.

— Aaron Blake

California

State Sen. Tom McClintock beat former Rep. Doug Ose (R) on Tuesday in the GOP primary for retiring Rep. John Doolittle’s (R) seat. Despite an influx of millions from Ose’s personal funds, and the fact that Ose was running in a district next to the one he represented as recently as 2004, McClintock cruised, 54 percent to 39 percent.

McClintock will face retired Air Force Lt. Col. Charlie Brown (D), who nearly defeated Doolittle in 2006.

In retiring Rep. Duncan Hunter’s (R) district, the incumbent’s son looks set to succeed his father. Iraq veteran Duncan D. Hunter won with 73 percent of the vote and will be favored in the conservative district. The Democratic nominee is retired Navy SEAL Mike Lumpkin.

— A.B.

Iowa

Rep. Leonard Boswell (D-Iowa) withstood a primary challenge Tuesday from former state Rep. Ed Fallon, beating him 61 percent to 39.

Fallon, who ran for governor in 2006, challenged Boswell from the left and provoked a serious response from Boswell and his supporters. Much of his candidacy was built on Boswell’s initial support for the Iraq war, which Fallon said endured far too long.

Boswell is a favorite for reelection in a swing district. Attorney Kim Schmett was unopposed in the GOP primary.

The Republican primary to face freshman Rep. David Loebsack (D) was narrowly decided, with ophthalmologist Marianette Miller-Meeks defeating businessman Peter Teahen, 44-43.

Businessman Christopher Reed appears to have won the GOP Senate primary to face Sen. Tom Harkin (D), leading former state Rep. George Eichhorn by 414 votes out of more than 70,000 cast. But Eichhorn’s campaign said Wednesday that it was too early to end the race and suggested it might ask for a recount.

— A.B.

New Jersey

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D) easily withstood a pitched primary challenge from Rep. Robert Andrews on Tuesday, setting himself up to run for a fifth Senate term in November.

Lautenberg led 59-35 with 99 percent of precincts reporting. The senator won with a strong showing in the northern counties of New Jersey, which still control the state’s Democratic politics.

The congressman ran as a younger, more vibrant alternative to the 84-year-old Lautenberg, who came out of a brief retirement in 2002 to replace Sen. Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.) on the ballot.

All Democrats in the New Jersey delegation except Andrews supported Lautenberg. Many of them are eyeing the Senate seat themselves once Lautenberg retires.

Lautenberg will face former Rep. Dick Zimmer (R-N.J.) in November. Zimmer led state Rep. Joseph Pennacchio 46-40 in the GOP primary.

In other races, state Sen. Leonard Lance and Medford Township Mayor Chris Myers won GOP primaries in the districts of retiring Reps. Mike Ferguson (R-N.J.) and Jim Saxton (R-N.J.), respectively.

Lance will face state Rep. Linda Stender, and Myers will match up with state Sen. John Adler. Stender and Adler were unopposed in Democratic primaries.

In Rep. Scott Garrett’s (R-N.J.) district, the blind Rabbi Dennis Shulman defeated attorney Camille Abate to win the Democratic nomination.

Andrews’s wife Camille Andrews breezed to a win in the Democratic primary for his House seat. She might merely serve as a placeholder for someone else, but Robert Andrews has said he would not revert back to that race.

— A.B.

Minnesota

Rep. Jim Oberstar became the most recent Minnesota Democrat this week to criticize Democratic Senate candidate Al Franken’s sexually explicit 2000 column for Playboy magazine.

“That was so amateurish and so silly,” Oberstar told the Brainerd Daily Dispatch in a story posted Wednesday. “He needs to disown it.”

Oberstar praised Franken overall, saying he will “be a vigorous candidate,” but his criticism comes on the heels of similar comments from Democratic Reps. Tim Walz and Keith Ellison. Rep. Betty McCollum (D) was the first and the harshest critic.

Franken spokeswoman Jess McIntosh said that if Franken can be half as vigorous as Oberstar, “we’ll be in great shape in November.”

McCollum supported attorney Mike Ciresi in the Senate race before he bowed out in March. Ciresi told local reporters Wednesday that he has not ruled out a return to the race, The Associated Press reported.

The state endorsing convention is this weekend. Ciresi could challenge Franken in the primary, though he had previously said he would honor the party’s endorsement.

— A.B.

New Mexico

Match-ups were set after Tuesday’s primaries in all three of the state’s House districts, which were all left open when their incumbents ran for Senate.

In Rep. Heather Wilson’s (R) district, Albuquerque City Councilman Martin Heinrich (D) topped a crowded field that included former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron and will face Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White, who easily won a two-way GOP primary.

In Rep. Steve Pearce’s (R) district, restaurateur Ed Tinsley beat several other Republicans and will take on businessman Harry Teague, who defeated Dona Ana County Commissioner Bill McCamley in a tight Democratic primary.

In Rep. Tom Udall’s (D) district, Public Regulation Commissioner Ben Ray Lujan beat businessman Don Wiviott and is the favorite to be Udall’s successor. Utility contractor Daniel East defeated attorney Marco Gonzales in a two-way race on the GOP side.

 — A.B.