In other big-name races, Rep. Kendrick Meek prevailed for Florida's Senate Democratic nomination over upstart Jeff Greene, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska hoped voters would reward political experience as she faced a spirited Republican primary challenge 10 weeks before the general election.
With more than half of the precincts counted, little-known attorney Joe Miller, a decorated Gulf war veteran and self-described "constitutional conservative," led 51 percent to 49 percent in contest that, in the end, amounted to an Alaska-sized GOP family feud. Miller was endorsed by Sarah Palin.
Murkowski would be the seventh incumbent — and fourth Republican — to lose in a year in which the tea party has scored huge victories in GOP Senate primaries and voters have shown a willingness to punish Republican and Democratic candidates with ties to Washington and party leadership.
Nominating contests in five states — Vermont also was voting, and Oklahoma held GOP runoffs — highlighted dominant themes of this unpredictable election year, including anti-establishment anger and tea party challenges from the right. But the early results indicated that if there was a single pattern to the night, it may have been the lack of one.
Just two years after reaching the pinnacle of the GOP establishment as the party's presidential nominee, McCain found himself facing a stiff Senate primary challenge by ex-radio host and former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, who tried to tap into anti-Washington sentiment coursing through the electorate. So, McCain spent more than $20 million and aggressively cast Hayworth in a negative light.
Erik Kellar / AP
Rick Scott greets supporters in Naples, Fla., on Tuesday.
It worked, and McCain, who has never lost a statewide race, comfortably won the Republican nod in his home state. He now enters the general election as the heavy favorite to win a fifth term.
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