Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) fought back a Democratic primary challenge from attorney Reshma Suijani Tuesday.

With 32 percent of the precincts reporting, Maloney won with 81 percent to Suijani's 19 percent.

Even in a year marked by a strong anti-incumbent mood, Maloney ran on her seniority in Washington and record of delivering for the district, which she echoed in an interview with The Hill Tuesday morning.


"It's hard to pass legislation and achieve that fragile level of consensus," Maloney said after casting her primary vote on Manhattan's Upper East Side. "I have that record and throughout my years in Congress, I've made a lot of friends."

Saujani’s connections to the financial community and to Democratic fundraisers ran deep. She received campaign help from the state's former banking commissioner, Diana Taylor, who is also the girlfriend of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I), and her challenge was well-funded thanks to backing from the financial industry.

Saujani didn't shy away from attacking Maloney over the course of the primary, hitting her for not taking a more leading role in issues critical to New York, including financial reform.

“Congresswoman Maloney has failed New Yorkers. She has failed to lead,” Saujani said in a radio debate with Maloney last week.

But the incumbent touted her legislative record, citing money she helped deliver for the 2nd Avenue Subway — a long-awaited transportation project — and her fight for federal dollars for first responders and survivors of the 9/11 attacks.

Maloney told The Hill that Tuesday marks "a sad election" for her personally — the first since the death of her husband Clifton last year. "Clifton always ran my elections," she said.

Saujani has pledged to run again in two years.

Rep. David Obey’s (D-Wis.) surprise retirement announcement left his seat wide open and brought national party attention to Wisconsin.

The party favorites won their respective nominations Tuesday night.

State Sen. Julie Lassa won the Democratic primary with 84 percent of the vote. Sean Duffy won the GOP nomination with 67 percent of the vote.



Duffy, a former cast member of the MTV's "Real World," has become a favorite of the national GOP, which is spending money on his behalf. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) campaigned for him in late August. 



The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee made its first independent expenditure ad of the cycle in this race, running an ad against Duffy.

Republicans said they'll be "watching" the political situation in Delaware to decide whether or not to commit resources to GOP nominee Christine O'Donnell.

A senior GOP aide left the door open to the party providing aid to O'Donnell, the conservative insurgent to win an upset primary victory over Rep. Mike Castle for the Republican Senate nomination, as Fox News reported that that the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) wouldn't be backing the party's nominee.

"We will be watching Delaware just as the Democrats are apparently watching Ohio, Florida, Indiana, New Hampshire, Arkansas, Illinois and Alaska – all states where the DSCC has not yet confirmed any financial support for their candidates," said the senior GOP aide.

Election monitoring services like the Rothenberg Political Report and the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia immediately shifted their ratings of the Delaware race to favor Democrats in the aftermath of O'Donnell's victory.

National Republicans have openly questioned whether the conservative candidate can win over enough centrist voters in Delaware to win Vice President Biden's former Senate seat this fall.

"There's just a lot of nutty things she's been saying," said former Bush political guru Karl Rove on Fox News. "This is not a race we're going to be able to win."

Norfolk District Attorney William Keating defeated state Sen. Robert O'Leary in the Democratic primary for Rep. Bill Delahunt's seat.

The seven-term Massachusetts Democrat announced his retirement in March.

With more than three quarters of precincts reporting, the Associated Press called the race for Keating, who had 55 percent of the vote compared to 45 percent for O'Leary.

Keating gained notoriety in the final days before the vote when he joined other diners at a restaurant in Falmouth Sunday morning in chasing a man suspected of stealing a handbag. The group of 20 or so, which included Keating, a waitress and a cook, cornered the suspect in a back yard until police arrived and arrested him, according to reports.

O'Leary, a Hyannis resident and a professor at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Bourne, was thought to have the geographic advantage in the 10th district, which includes Cape Cod.

But O'Leary became a target for his fellow candidates after the Boston Herald reported he was “triple-dipping” – holding two college jobs and his state Senate position. The report noted O'Leary missed 17 votes in one day because he was in class and missed 22 of the 227 roll call votes of the year. 

O'Leary defended himself to the paper, saying of his college gigs: "It's part time. I do it when the students are available and they need a teacher." He said of his voting record: "I have a voting record over my career approaching 90 percent. I rarely miss votes."

On the Republican side, state Rep. Jeffrey Perry beat out a field that included former state Treasurer Joseph Malone, accountant Ray Kasperowicz and attorney Robert Hayden.

The district went heavily for President Obama in the 2008 presidential election and is expected to be retained by Democrats in November.

Providence Mayor David Cicilline won the Democratic primary for retiring Rep. Patrick Kennedy's (D-R.I.) seat.

With 60 percent of the precincts reporting, Cicilline won with 36 percent of the vote.



Of the four Democratic candidates, Cicilline was the best-funded and had the highest name ID. If he wins in November, which he’s likely to do given the make-up of the district, he’ll be the fourth openly gay member of Congress.



Businessman Anthony Gemma (D) hit Cicilline hard in the final days of the campaign. He accused the mayor taking raises he wasn’t entitled to, having a city-paid chauffer drive him around and misdirecting federal education dollars.



Gemma also sent a seven-page letter Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), asking him to talk to Cicilline about ending his bid because of Gemma’s belief that Cicilline threatened Democrats ability to hold the seat.



Rhode Island Democratic Party Chairman Edwin Pacheco defended Cicilline, calling him "the best candidate for us to be successful in November."



Gemma came in third with 22 percent of the vote.

Kennedy held the seat for eight terms and the district is considered likely to stay in Democratic hands.


Cicilline faces Republican candidate John Loughlin in November.

Republican Ron Johnson brushed aside his primary opponent to set up a general election match up with three-term incumbent Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.).

Johnson led businessman Dave Westlake by 75 points with 285 of 3601 precincts reporting. The Associated Press declared him the winner.

Johnson had a quick rise from neophyte candidate to GOP Senate nominee. He announced his run less than a week before the Republican Party’s state convention in May and was the surprise winner with 64 percent. Former state Commerce Secretary Dick Leinenkugel, who was considered the favorite, dropped out of the race after the convention and endorsed Johnson.

Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, had been courting former Gov. Tommy Thompson (R) to run. But since Thompson announced his decision to remain out of politics, the NRSC has promoted Johnson’s candidacy.

Johnson hopes to capitalize on his business résumé and the country's anti-incumbent mood to unseat Feingold. "People really are looking for somebody with an entirely different perspective here," Johnson told The Hill earlier this year.

Despite having the support of the party establishement, Democrats sought to link Johnson to the other insurgent candidates of the cycle.

"Ron Johnson officially joins the ranks of Christine O'Donnell, Rand Paul, Sharron Angle, Ken Buck, and Joe Miller as extremist U.S Senate candidates who care more about imposing a strict social doctrine than addressing the challenges facing working people," Bob Menendez (N.J.), chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said in a statement.

"Ron Johnson is open to drilling for oil in Lake Michigan, believes sunspots cause global warming, and has shown an interest in dismantling Social Security. Johnson crusades against government spending even after getting caught using government funds to grow his own business."

Feingold and Johnson have already traded jabs in several TV ads over the issues Menendez mentioned.

Feingold spent some $10 million on his race in 2004, Johnson said, noting he’ll have to spend something similar this year. "It's probably somewhere in that ballpark."

--Updated at 12:19 a.m. Sept. 15

Businesswoman Michele Rollins (R) was supposed to coast to the Republican House nomination after clinching the backing of delegates at the state party's convention.

But this cycle, the establishment's endorsement has marked political careers for death and Delaware has been no exception.

Developer Glen Urquhart (R) remained in the primary race after Rollins got the May endorsement and his tenacity came close to being rewarded with victory on Tuesday.

Only 552 votes separated Urquhart and Rollins, a former Miss USA-turned government attorney, with all 325 precincts reporting. A spokesman for Rollins said the campaign is considering its options, which may include calling for a recount.

Urquhart was leading Rollins by double digits in one of the final polls conducted before the vote. Half the likely Republican primary voters who responded to the Public Policy Polling survey said they'd vote for Urquhart, compared to 38 percent who said they'd vote for Rollins.

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Liberals celebrated a win Tuesday in the congressional district left vacant by Rep. Paul Hodes (D-N.H.). 


Their candidate, Anne McLane Kuster, defeated Katrina Swett by running from the left.

With 13 percent of the precincts reporting, Kuster won the Democratic primary with 74 percent of the vote.

The race was a narrative that was tailor made for liberals nationwide. Swett is the daughter of the late Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) and the husband of former Rep. Dick Swett (D-N.H.). She was also the co-chairwoman of Sen. Joe Lieberman's (I-Conn.) 2004 presidential campaign.



Kuster raised significant amounts of cash from liberal activists nationwide and her candidacy was propped up by the newly-former Progressive Campaign Change Committee and liberal blogs like Daily Kos.



Swett worked to paint herself as the more electable candidate in a general election ahead of the primary, repeatedly pointing out Kuster's branding of herself as "progressive." It was a line that Kuster used to raise more cash online from liberal activists.



The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and a back and forth over the extension of the Bush tax cuts dominated the final days of the primary campaign.


The Republican primary has not been called yet.

Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) survived a primary challenger who campaigned on Lynch's vote against healthcare reform.