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U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt turned back a tea party-backed competitor on Tuesday in Missouri’s Republican U.S. Senate primary, setting up a long-anticipated showdown with Democratic Secretary of State Robin Carnahan.
The general election matchup between Blunt and Carnahan will pit two of Missouri’s most prominent political families against each other for the first time in one of the nation’s more closely contested U.S. Senate races. They will be competing to replace Republican Kit Bond, who is retiring after 24 years in the Senate.
Blunt took more than 70 percent of the vote in a nine-way Republican primary that also featured state Sen. Chuck Purgason, a quail farmer who was a favorite of many tea party activists. Carnahan won easily, receiving well over 80 percent of the vote, against two lesser-known Democratic opponents.
Voters also overwhelmingly approved a new state law that defies a key provision of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul requiring most Americans to have health insurance by 2014. The Missouri law says government cannot require people to have health insurance or penalize those who don’t.
The Missouri law may have little legal effect because federal laws generally trump state laws. But the vote sent a strong message of discontent to Washington and Democrats heading into November’s midterm elections.
“I don’t like government telling us to do anything — period,” said retired shoe store worker Ralph Higgins, 58, of Jefferson City, who voted for Missouri’s defiant health care law.
Voters also decided several competitive Republican primaries for Congress. They chose former state Rep. Vicky Hartzler, of Harrisonville — a spokeswoman for a successful 2004 Missouri ballot measure banning gay marriage — to challenge longtime Democratic Rep. Ike Skelton, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
Springfield auctioneer Billy Long, who promoted himself as a political outsider, won an eight-way Republican primary for Blunt’s southwest Missouri congressional seat — instantly becoming the favorite to win in November in the predominantly Republican district.
Far more voters cast Republican ballots than Democratic ones, likely boosting the margin of victory for the health care referendum, which was roundly embraced by Republican candidates.
Carnahan and Blunt already had been campaigning against each other long before Tuesday’s primary victories.
Blunt has tried to link Carnahan to President Barack Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. He has been particularly outspoken against the new federal health care law and $862 billion stimulus package, both of which Carnahan has supported. After Obama attended a Carnahan fundraiser in July, Blunt quickly converted the video into a television ad attacking her — suggesting Carnahan would “rubber stamp the Pelosi, Reid, Obama liberal agenda.”
That message appeared to resonate with Republican primary voters.
U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt turned back a tea party-backed competitor on Tuesday in Missouri’s Republican U.S. Senate primary, setting up a long-anticipated showdown with Democratic Secretary of State Robin Carnahan.
The general election matchup between Blunt and Carnahan will pit two of Missouri’s most prominent political families against each other for the first time in one of the nation’s more closely contested U.S. Senate races. They will be competing to replace Republican Kit Bond, who is retiring after 24 years in the Senate.
Blunt took more than 70 percent of the vote in a nine-way Republican primary that also featured state Sen. Chuck Purgason, a quail farmer who was a favorite of many tea party activists. Carnahan won easily, receiving well over 80 percent of the vote, against two lesser-known Democratic opponents.
Voters also overwhelmingly approved a new state law that defies a key provision of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul requiring most Americans to have health insurance by 2014. The Missouri law says government cannot require people to have health insurance or penalize those who don’t.
The Missouri law may have little legal effect because federal laws generally trump state laws. But the vote sent a strong message of discontent to Washington and Democrats heading into November’s midterm elections.
“I don’t like government telling us to do anything — period,” said retired shoe store worker Ralph Higgins, 58, of Jefferson City, who voted for Missouri’s defiant health care law.
Voters also decided several competitive Republican primaries for Congress. They chose former state Rep. Vicky Hartzler, of Harrisonville — a spokeswoman for a successful 2004 Missouri ballot measure banning gay marriage — to challenge longtime Democratic Rep. Ike Skelton, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
Springfield auctioneer Billy Long, who promoted himself as a political outsider, won an eight-way Republican primary for Blunt’s southwest Missouri congressional seat — instantly becoming the favorite to win in November in the predominantly Republican district.
Far more voters cast Republican ballots than Democratic ones, likely boosting the margin of victory for the health care referendum, which was roundly embraced by Republican candidates.
Carnahan and Blunt already had been campaigning against each other long before Tuesday’s primary victories.
Blunt has tried to link Carnahan to President Barack Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. He has been particularly outspoken against the new federal health care law and $862 billion stimulus package, both of which Carnahan has supported. After Obama attended a Carnahan fundraiser in July, Blunt quickly converted the video into a television ad attacking her — suggesting Carnahan would “rubber stamp the Pelosi, Reid, Obama liberal agenda.”
That message appeared to resonate with Republican primary voters.
