Upstarts make bid in primaries

May 4, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Candidates backed by Washington are facing upstart challengers looking to capitalize on antiestablishment sentiment in primary contests Tuesday in Indiana, North Carolina and Ohio.

The outcome of primaries for the House and Senate could provide clues about the volatility of the electorate and whether anger with the country’s direction will translate into actual votes.

Also being tested: how much influence the national parties have over their rank-and-file supporters and, in some cases, the strength of the tea-party coalition.

Over the next several months, Republicans and Democrats will choose nominees for key races in states such as Arkansas, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. Losses by incumbent lawmakers could deal major blows to parties looking to hang on to as many seats as possible.

Today, the spotlight turns to three states, and, in particular, Indiana because its results could illustrate just how dissatisfied Republicans are with the GOP. Candidates preferred by the party establishment in Washington could be in trouble if tea party activists — a mix of conservatives and libertarians hungry for fresh blood in Washington — head to the polls in large numbers.

In the GOP primary for the Senate seat held by the retiring Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh, former Sen. Dan Coats is fighting for the nomination against four others, including two opponents challenging him from the right. They are Marlin Stutzman, a state senator who is a tea-party favorite and was endorsed by South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, and John Hostettler, a former congressman who has the support of former presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee recruited Coats, who last held the Senate seat 12 years ago, in hopes that he could easily raise campaign cash and sail to the nomination. But opponents have criticized him as an old-guard lobbyist deeply entrenched in Washington, which could work against him in a year in which voters don’t much like the capital or anyone with ties to it.

Democrat Brad Ellsworth’s nomination is assured.

In Ohio, Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, a former Ohio attorney general backed by Democrats in Washington and Gov. Ted Strickland, was leading in pre-primary surveys against Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, an election lawyer and former judge. The two are battling for the Democratic nomination to fill the Senate seat of retiring Republican George Voinovich.

The winner will face former Rep. Rob Portman, the budget director and trade representative under George W. Bush. Portman’s GOP nomination is certain.