WASHINGTON (AP) - May 18, 2010 - Political novice Rand Paul rode support from Tea Party activists to a rout in Kentucky's Republican Senate primary Tuesday night, jolting the GOP establishment. Democrat Senator Arlen Specter fell behind in a struggle for political survival in Pennsylvania, a five-term incumbent offering experience to voters clamoring for change.
Another Democrat incumbent, Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln, led narrowly in early returns in her race for nomination to a third term, but she risked being thrown into a run-off.
In a fourth race with national implications, Democrat Mark Critz moved ahead of Republican Tim Burns in a contest to fill out the final few months in the term of the late Rep. John Murtha in Pennsylvania. Each political party invested nearly $1 million in that contest and said the race to succeed the longtime Democrat lawmaker was something of a bellwether for the fall.
The conservative Paul told supporters after sealing his triumph over Secretary of State Trey Grayson, "I have a message, a message from the Tea Party, a message that is loud and clear and does not mince words: We have come to take our government back!"
