GOP primaries

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) on Tuesday distanced himself from the candidacy of Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.), saying he had “not gotten involved” in the closely watched race even though a group linked to Cantor is backing the embattled Indiana senator.

The Young Guns Network, an advocacy group run by former top Cantor aides, is actively supporting Lugar in his primary fight with Indiana state Treasurer Richard Mourdock and has spent more than $100,000 sending mailers urging a vote for Lugar. The primary is Tuesday, and Lugar is expected to lose.

“I have not gotten involved in that race, and this is an outside group that I have no control over,” Cantor told reporters in the Capitol when asked what message Lugar’s defeat could send.

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Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) pleaded with independent and Democratic voters to back his campaign in Tuesday's Republican primary as the six-term senator looks poised to lose his first serious political challenge in decades.

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A half-dozen Tea Party-allied candidates could change the balance of power among Senate Republicans.

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Former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum endorsed Nebraska state Attorney General Jon Bruning, the GOP front-runner in the race to replace retiring Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.). Read more...

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) endorsed Iraq War veteran Tom Cotton's (R) Arkansas House campaign Thursday, putting him at odds with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R), who is backing Beth Anne Rankin (R), Cotton's primary opponent.

"Tom Cotton volunteered to fight for our freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan when he could have continued a promising legal career,"  McCain said in a statement. "We badly need this kind of courage and selfless service in Congress — particularly to address our economic challenges."

McCain and Huckabee faced off in the 2008 GOP presidential race, and are known to have a cordial relationship.

Cotton and Raknin are squaring off in a Republican-leaning district left open by retiring Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.). Cotton is a hard-line fiscal conservative with a Harvard Law degree who has the backing of the fiscally conservative Club for Growth. Rankin, a former beauty queen who worked for Huckabee while he was governor and lost to Ross in 2010, is viewed as more of a social conservative.

Arkansas's primary is less than three weeks away, on May 22.

The recent decision by an outside group to stop spending on Lugar's behalf indicated real trouble for the longtime lawmaker.

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Freshman Rep. Larry Bucshon (R-Ind.) is taking no chances in his primary contest, but his efforts could leave him vulnerable in the general election.

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Gingrich’s weeklong exit from the presidential primary should hurt his chances of speaking at the GOP convention, some lawmakers say.

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The American Action Network, a super-PAC that backs establishment Republicans, has pulled out of Indiana's Senate race, the latest bad omen for Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.).

"We've decided we're going to let this race play out," AAN spokesman Dan Conston told The Hill Friday evening.

The group had committed to spending nearly $600,000 on television attacking Lugar's Tea Party opponent, Indiana state Treasurer Richard Mourdock (R), and has been on the air in Indianapolis for two weeks. But they have pulled their online advertising and will end their TV buy on Tuesday, a week ahead of the May 8 primary.

Lugar still has a big warchest to draw from, so the loss of ads against Mourdock won't hurt him that badly in the air war. But this is the latest sign that the race is slipping away from the six-term senator, who has been badly damaged after it was revealed he's lived in Washington, D.C. for decades and is a top target of many conservative groups.

The race seems to be slipping away from Lugar and the American Action Network may want to avoid inflicting any more damage on Mourdock, the likely nominee, ahead of what could be a competitive general election race against Rep. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.).

Politico first reported the group's decision.

Five states hold primary contests Tuesday, with congressional contests taking the spotlight from the GOP presidential race.

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