What Happened Yesterday

Primaries in four states yesterday covered three senate contests and 36 districts. While Michigan and Washington are Democratic strongholds, the Missouri primary was followed closely. In that election, current Congressman Todd Akin won the party's nomination by a slim margin of 36% while competitors John Brunner and Sarah Steelman won 30% and 29% respectively. Congressman Akin will face Senator McCaskill for a seat that the GOP believes it can win in November and the Democrats need to hold to maintain control of the Senate.

In Washington, State Senator and former State Department Officer Michael Baumgartner won the Republican nomination to go against Senator Maria Cantwell. The Democrats are expected to win that seat easily.

In Michigan a similar story is unfolding as former Congressman Pete Hoekstra won the nomination to go against Debbie Stabenow. While Michigan isn't as lopsided as some states, Hoekstra is definitely facing an uphill battle.

So, of the three Senate nominees presented by the Republicans on Tuesday to go up against three incumbent Democrats, the party selected two men who have already been in Congress and a long time government official and politician. Not a lot to convince people that things are going to change anytime soon.

The only real beacon of hope came from the Democratic party yesterday as Kurt Haskell won the nomination for the 7th district in Michigan. Mr Haskell is an attorney who became interested in politics after witnessing the "underwear bomber" being admitted onto his plane at the request of unknown government officials. He was involved in that trial under a plea was reached and is an outspoken supporter of liberty and opponent of the TSA.

Two other interesting items: in the Michigan 14th and Missouri 1st district, Congressmen Hansen Clarke and Russ Carnahan lost primary bids to other incumbents when the number of districts in those states were reduced after the previous census.