Two More Senate Primaries Decided

On Tuesday, voters in Michigan and Missouri went to the polls to cast ballots in their party’s primary contests. As expected, Michigan Republicans selected former Congressman Pete Hoekstra as their nominee to challenge Senator Debbie Stabenow (D). Hoekstra, who served nine terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and ran unsuccessfully for his party’s 2010 gubernatorial nomination, defeated Cornerstone Schools Co-founder Clark Durant and Michigan Family Forum President Randy Hekman with 54.2 percent. Durant and Hekman received 33.5 percent and 6.7 percent respectively. Hoekstra now faces an uphill battle in his bid to unseat the two-term Senator. The Real Clear Politics (RCP) rolling average of the major national polls from June 24 to July 31 shows Stabenow with a clear advantage. The Senator leads 49.8 percent to 38.6 percent. In Missouri, Republicans must be relieved that their bruising primary contest is now complete. Congressman Todd Akin won the right to take on first term Senator Claire McCaskill (D). Unlike the primary to the North, this contest was much closer. Akin won with only 36 percent of the vote to businessman John Brunner’s and former State Treasurer Sarah Steelman’s 30 percent and 29.2 percent respectively. Reasons for a close finish include Brunner spending over $8 million of his own money on his campaign and Steelman garnering the endorsement of Sarah Palin, as well as strong support from the trial lawyers. Of the three leading Republicans, Akin was clearly the most conservative of the group and polling showed he would be the weaker challenger against McCaskill. Despite this, Akin will be a slight favorite to move this Missouri Senate seat to the Republican column.  Currently, the Real Clear Politics average shows him leading McCaskill 47 percent to 44 percent. The next set of primaries takes place this Tuesday in Connecticut, Florida, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Click on your state to find out where to vote. For more information, please contact David Ashinoff at (202) 547-5013 or ashinoffd@agc.org.