Lindsey Graham wins Republican primary

Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) comfortably won his Republican primary Tuesday, defeating a field of six lesser-known challengers who failed to gain any traction against the backdrop of a tea party movement unhappy with the second-term senator.

Graham's win marked the latest round of good news for Republican senators facing reelection in 2014. Many drew conservative primary challengers; but those challengers have mostly fallen flat.

Viewed with skepticism by conservatives over his support for immigration reform, among other things, Graham waged an early and expensive effort to discourage strong challengers and prevent the ones who did run against him from making strides.

With nearly all precincts reporting, Graham had 57 percent of the vote, well ahead of second-place finisher Lee Bright, a state senator, who had 15 percent. The Associated Press called the race about two hours after polls closed. The five other candidates were in single-digits. Graham needed to win more than 50 percent to avoid a top-two runoff in a fortnight.

more
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/06/10/lindsey-graham-wins-republican-primary/?tid=up_next