Indiana’s Lugar loses to tea party favorite
North Carolina approves stronger gay marriage ban
WASHINGTON – Six-term Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar was routed by the right flank of his own Republican Party on Tuesday, and North Carolina voters decided overwhelmingly to strengthen their state’s gay marriage ban. It was a double-barreled show of conservative enthusiasm and strength six months before the nation chooses between Democratic President Barack Obama and GOP rival Mitt Romney.
Romney swept three Republican primaries, moving ever closer to sealing his nomination in an otherwise sharply polarized environment.
“We are experiencing deep political divisions in our society right now. These divisions have stalemated progress in critical areas,” Lugar, a Capitol Hill diplomat and a dealmaker, said as he conceded to the tea party-backed GOP opponent who ended his nearly four-decade career in the Senate.
Lugar’s foe, state Treasurer Richard Mourdock, had painted the Republican senator as too moderate for the conservative state. Mourdock will face Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly in November.
North Carolinians voted to amend their state constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman, effectively outlawing gay unions through a ballot measure pursued by the right.
Also Tuesday, Democrats overwhelmingly picked Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett to challenge Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in a June recall election. The primary outcome set up a rematch; Barrett lost to Walker in 2010.
The highly charged and hard-fought contests overshadowed Romney’s continued progress toward the GOP presidential nomination. He won the Republican presidential primaries in Indiana, North Carolina and West Virginia on Tuesday, drawing close to the 1,144 delegates he needs to clinch the nomination. He won at least 59 delegates, with 37 still undecided. He had 915 delegates, 229 shy of what he needs to become the formal nominee.
Even Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, was essentially ignoring the primaries. He spent the day campaigning in Michigan, where he castigated Obama as an “old-school liberal.” Romney didn’t weigh in on the primary outcomes or Lugar’s defeat.