Dems catch all the breaks in Tuesday's primaries

Tuesday's primaries produced a string of good news for Senate and House Democrats, as their preferred candidates won in both parties' contests.

The biggest result was Rep. Todd Akin's (R-Mo.) win in Missouri's Senate primary. Democrats had long hoped Akin would emerge as the nominee against Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), and she actually ran faux-attack ads describing him as the true conservative in the race in an apparent attempt to boost his campaign.

While McCaskill remains the most endangered Democratic senator this election season, Akin's nomination gives her the best chance to hold onto her seat in the fall. His past statements criticizing Social Security, the federal student loan program and Medicare provide ample fodder for her campaign, and he had just over $500,000 in his campaign account as of mid-July, meaning the National Republican Senatorial Committee and GOP outside groups will have to spend heavily to prop up his campaign — a big difference from if self-funding businessman John Brunner (R) had won the primary.

In Michigan, Republicans failed to push a credible candidate through on a write-in bid for Rep. Thaddeus McCotter's (R-Mich.) old seat and instead nominated a hard-line Tea Party candidate who immediately puts a once-safely Republican seat in play.

Democrats made plenty of their own luck — aside from becoming involved in the Missouri primary, they also nominated their strongest candidates in a number of districts, including in the McCotter seat, against Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) and in an open Washington House seat that leans Democratic, likely taking that seat off the table.

McCaskill still faces a very tough reelection fight, and Democrats remain a long shot to take back control of the House. But Tuesday's results likely made Democrats on both sides of Capitol Hill a little more confident heading into the fall.

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