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Polls have closed across a band of Midwestern and southern states that promise a first look at the size and force of the electoral wave expected to carry Republicans to major gains in the House and Senate. Republicans scored two early victories in the upper chamber: Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul, perhaps the year’s most prominent tea party candidate, was declared the winner in his state’s open-seat Senate race. Former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats won an easy victory over Democratic Rep. Brad Ellsworth, reclaiming his old seat for the GOP.

ABC News projects Republican Rand Paul will win the Kentucky Senate race, based on the exit poll, in what is the first major victory of the night for the Tea Party movement. Paul's victory over Democrat Jack Conway is seen as an early indication of Republicans return to prominence in Congress and a sign of the Tea Party movement's growing political influence. "There is a Tea-Party tidal wave coming to Washington," Paul told reporters after casting his ballot this morning. An ophthalmologist and son of libertarian Congressman Rep. Ron Paul, R- Texas, Paul, 47, became an early face of the...

important race. if it is going to be a blowout, we need this one

It’s very early, but the bellwether races of IN-2 and KY-6 look good for the GOP so far. IN-2′s Jackie Walorksi is over 60 percent with 4 percent in (all GOP counties, but she’s running even with Dan Coats, who’s wiping out Ellsworth in the state’s U.S. Senate race), and Andy Barr is running even with Chandler in KY-6. I picked both of these districts to flip parties, and if that happens, it’s a sign that +60 or more is the new baseline.

Republican Rand Paul, a tea party favorite, has been elected to the Senate from Kentucky in his first run for office. The son of libertarian congressman Ron Paul defeated Democrat Jack Conway. Republicans have captured the first of what they hope will be several Senate seats that were held by Democrats with the victory of Dan Coats in Indiana. The veteran lawmaker returns to Washington in the seat that was held by retiring Democrat Evan Bayh. South Carolina Republican Jim DeMint, as expected, has won re-election to the Senate, defeating Democrat Alvin Greene.

Republican candidate Rand Paul will win the Kentucky Senate race to score the first major victory of the night for the Tea Party movement, according to ABC News exit-poll projections. Paul beat Democrat Jack Conway after a bitter personal campaign that became one of the nastiest in the country.

Breaking On Air: Both are projected by Fox News to win.

Fox: Rand Paul Wins Kentucky

Indiana Results Live reports from everybody, please. ESPECIALLY STATEHOUSE RACES. The trends here could signal what's happening everywhere else!!

Republican Rand Paul still holds a modest lead over Democrat Jack Conway in Kentucky's U.S. Senate contest. The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Voters shows Paul picking up 49% support, while Conway earns the vote from 40%. Four percent (4%) prefer another candidate, and seven percent (7%) are undecided.

I just talked to Tyler Collins, who politely declined to comment as he adjusts to life as the subject of a multi-tier campaign of citizen journalism investigating his life as a Democratic activist. You know Collins. He was the guy who dressed up as a slack-jawed "Rand Paul fan," wearing a tinfoil hat and holding a sign that echoed/parodied conservative fears about illegal immigration.Why is Collins lying low? Because he has a long picture and paper trail as a Democratic activist.

Just after his big Republican Primary win last month, Rand Paul led his Democratic opponent Jack Conway by 25 points in Kentucky’s U.S. Senate race. Now Paul’s lead is down to just eight points. Now, however, Paul holds a much smaller advantage. The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey finds the GOP nominee with support from 49% of the state’s voters while Conway earns 41% of the vote. Four percent (4%) prefer some other candidate, and six percent (6%) are undecided. Almost all candidates receive a bounce following a big victory and Paul clearly lost his post-primary bounce. But he...

Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul (R) is leading his Democratic challenger, Jack Conway (D), in a poll released Thursday. Paul, who recently found himself in hot water for questioning the legality of portions of the Civil Rights Act, is leading Conway 44-40 percent with 9 percent undecided in a Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll taken May 24-26. The margin of error is 4 percent, so Paul, an eye doctor, is statistically tied with the state attorney general. The survey polled likely voters. Paul maintains a 53-33 favorability/unfavorability rating, showing that his comments about the Civil Rights Act have not caused major...

If true, he's a gonner. If not, the Libs still get to smear him. Folks, there's not gonna be any Repub capture of the Congress this year. Obama's gangsters are just warming up with the estimated $ 600M slush fund they have for November.

The knock on Rand Paul from both Republicans and Democrats during the primary was his electability in a general election. His conservo-libertarian views would push the Republican ticket out of the mainstream, allowing the eventual Democratic nominee to grab the center and win a takeaway in the midterms. Rasmussen’s latest poll of likely voters in Kentucky show that the problem may be reversed, and that Jack Conway is in serious danger of being marginalized: Rand Paul, riding the momentum of his big Republican Primary win on Tuesday, now posts a 25-point lead over Democrat Jack Conway in Kentucky’s U.S. Senate...

Rand Paul, riding the momentum of his big Republican Primary win on Tuesday, now posts a 25-point lead over Democrat Jack Conway in Kentucky’s U.S. Senate race, but there’s a lot of campaigning to go. A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in Kentucky, taken Wednesday night, shows Paul earning 59% of the vote, while Conway picks up 34% support. Four percent (4%) percent prefer some other candidate, and three percent (3%) are undecided. Paul consistently led Conway prior to winning the Republican primary, but had never earned more than 50% support. Conway has been stuck in the...

Just heard on Fox that Rand Paul won in Ky.

(CNN) – Fresh off his win in Kentucky's Republican Senate primary, Dr. Rand Paul is welcoming the attention from national Democrats that his insurgent, Tea Party-backed candidacy is generating. Tim Kaine, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, took a shot at Paul during a press conference in Washington Wednesday. Kaine said Paul "represents the most extreme elements of the Republican Party - a candidate who has vowed to abolish the Departments of Education and the Federal Reserve; who vows to oppose, oppose, oppose at a time when we need constructive solutions to the challenges we face." Asked about Kaine's comments...

The Major news sources have all called the Republican Primary in Kentucky and Rand Paul, the son of Ron Paul, has soundly defeated Trey Grayson for the Republic Party nomination for a seat in the US Senate. By the time the votes are all counted it could be a near landslide for the first time Senatorial candidate. Dr. Paul is a family man who has been married to his wife Kelley for 19 years. They have three sons. He is a doctor, and not a politician. That is part of the appeal he had for the voters of Kentucky. There...

Behind the scenes the insider Republican establishment is now in an uproar as the odds are high that Rand Paul wins the Republican nomination for senator from Kentucky. This would be a major embarrassment to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and raises a big question about 2012: Why is Sarah Palin getting so much attention, and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) so little, from the national media and pundit classes? Certain pundits appear strangely infatuated with Palin, but it seems to me that if Ron Paul runs for president in 2012, he could win a plurality of delegates in a multi-candidate field....

LOUISVILLE - Riding high in the polls, Rand Paul – the son of libertarian firebrand Ron Paul and the insurgent Senate candidate who has upended the Kentucky GOP primary – offered a preview of his anticipated triumphant message Tuesday night. "This has enormous implications for the power and the impact of the Tea Party movement," he declared. "If we win Tuesday, it will be the biggest victory for a Tea Party candidate in the country...It will show that the Tea Party can elect somebody." These words were delivered not on a campaign stage surrounded by sign-waving supporters, but over lunch...

How Rand Paul became the Tea Party's ObamaHis father's libertarian army and Rush Limbaugh's "Dittoheads" aren't natural allies. But Rand Paul has united them.Friday, May 14, 2010 08:01 ETOn the afternoon of Dec. 16, 2009, the 236th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, Rand Paul left the office of his small ophthalmology practice in Bowling Green and drove 30 miles to Russellville, Ky. In an election year without the Tea Party movement, Rand Paul's campaign to become Kentucky's next U.S. senator would be just as quixotic as the bid his father, Ron Paul, made for the Republican presidential nomination in...

Just days before the party primaries in Kentucky, outsider Senate candidate Rand Paul holds a double-digit lead over Secretary of State Trey Grayson, the "establishment" Republican anointed by the GOP's Washington leadership - including Senate minority leader and fellow Kentuckian Mitch McConnell. The race is the latest test of the strength of the anti-Washington sentiment fueling insurgent campaigns like Mr. Paul's across the country - and would be a bitter rebuke for Mr. McConnell from the state party he helped build. Mr. McConnell and Texas Sen. John Cornyn, head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, strongly backed Mr. Grayson in...

Dr. Rand Paul, who is seeking the Republican nomination for the US Senate seat in Kentucky, is causing panic among members of the Republican establishment in Washington DC. The greatest fear that the Republican establishment has, is that an honest conservative may get elected, who actually means it when he talks of small government. The present day conservative politicians are good at rhetoric, but once they get elected, they sell out to the big corporations, banks, and special interest groups, whom they give our tax dollars. I have not seen this level of fear in the Republican establishment, since Ronald...

Few were surprised this week when Jim DeMint endorsed Rand Paul in his bid for US Senate in Kentucky. That the man many consider the most conservative member of the Senate endorsed the son of the man many consider the most conservative member of Congress is indicative of DeMint’s genuine commitment to what most consider traditional Republican principles. Likewise, that GOP Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell so vehemently opposes Paul and has so enthusiastically endorsed his opponent is indicative of his commitment to the Republican status quo-at the expense of genuine conservatism. Rand Paul has gone from relative obscurity to...

Dr. James Dobson, founder and former chairman of Focus on the Family, has endorsed Rand Paul, son of Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), in the race to succeed retiring Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.). The irony of it is that Dobson had formerly endorsed Paul’s opponent, Trey Grayson, because, as he put it, “Senior members of the GOP told me Dr. Paul is pro-choice and that he opposes many conservative perspectives.” Paul is, in fact, simply a federalist with regard to abortion, just as his father is. That is, he believes that abortion is an issue to be dealt with at the...

After toppling three-term Republican Sen. Robert F. Bennett in Utah, tea party activists and other conservative critics shifted their sights Sunday to a mid-May primary in Kentucky, their next big challenge to a political establishment they have vowed to upend. Bennett, 76, left the door open to a write-in campaign after losing his bid for renomination, raising the possibility of an unpredictable three-way race that could yet extend his career. But within minutes of Bennett's defeat, the chairman of the Republican senatorial campaign committee, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, announced the organization will support the winner of a June 22...

Christian conservative leader James Dobson withdrew his endorsement of Kentucky Senate candidate Trey Grayson Monday, switching his support to Rand Paul’s campaign and accusing “senior members of the GOP” of misleading him about Paul’s record on abortion. Dobson said in an audio recording that he made an “embarrassing mistake” as a result of misunderstanding Paul’s position on abortion. “I was given misleading information about the candidacy of Dr. Rand Paul, who is running in the Republican Primary for the U.S. Senate. Senior members of the GOP told me Dr. Paul is pro-choice and that he opposes many conservative perspectives, so...

A new Kentucky Poll shows novice political candidate Rand Paul with a commanding 12 point lead over Trey Grayson, the Republican Party establishment’s choice in the GOP race for U.S. Senate in Kentucky. The state’s Democratic primary to replace U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning is closer, with Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo holding a 7 point lead over Attorney General Jack Conway, says the poll conducted on behalf of the Lexington Herald-Leader, WKYT in Lexington and WAVE in Louisville. With less than two weeks to go before the May 18 election, Conway remains within striking distance of Mongiardo, who leads 39 percent...

Poll shows Paul, Mongiardo have strong leadsThe Associated PressLOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Republican Rand Paul and Democrat Dan Mongiardo have strong leads in their U.S. Senate primary campaigns, according to a new statewide poll.The Courier-Journal/WHAS-11 Bluegrass Poll found Paul, a Bowling Green doctor, leads Secretary of State Trey Grayson 42 percent to 27 percent in the GOP race. Mongiardo, the state's lieutenant governor, leads Attorney General Conway by a similar wide margin, 45 to 27 percent.Undecided voters were at 19 percent in both polls.The Republican poll had a margin of error of 4.7 percentage points and the Democrat poll's margin is...

Yesterday I linked to the video of the Courier Journal's editorial board interviews with the four candidates for US Senate. This comment concerns the republicans. As I have said many times, I have tried to limit the focus of my observations to the campaigns, not the individuals. However this set of interviews reveals more about the candidates than their campaigns. They had no handlers, their message was unedited, this was not a commercial or a prepared speech. As such this comment will focus on the impression one gets from the interviews of the men themselves. Ardent supporters will see what...

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) -- Republicans hoping to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning have met in Bowling Green for a forum with voters. The candidates said Tuesday night they want to rein in federal spending and cut taxes on businesses to kickstart expansion and job growth. Front-runner Rand Paul, a Bowling Green eye surgeon, blamed career politicians for weakening the economy with tax-and-spend policies that have driven up the cost of doing business. Paul and his chief Republican rival, Secretary of State Trey Grayson, share the philosophy that reducing the size of the federal government is essential to strengthening...

Trey Grayson has received a very powerful endorsement from Rick Santorum, pro-life former Senator from Pennsylvania. I personally most remember Rick Santorum for his famous exchange with Senator Barbara Boxer regarding the right to life.  Please read that here.  His endorsement of Trey Grayson is below. Louisville, Kentucky – Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum announced today that he is endorsing Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate.  Santorum is in Kentucky to speak at the 40th anniversary dinner for Kentucky Right to Life. "Trey Grayson is the only 100% pro-life candidate in this race. ...

Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) is leaving the Senate, but he's not going quietly. Bunning on Wednesday announced that he will support Rand Paul in the GOP primary to take his seat. The move will be seen as a direct affront to the state's other senator, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and the candidate he is more closely tied to, Secretary of State Trey Grayson. “Kentucky needs a conservative who will say no to bailouts, stop the government takeover of our economy, end wasteful spending, and bring down our national debt," Bunning said. "And Kentucky’s families need a conservative who believes...

Rand Paul, son of Texas Rep. Ron Paul and a favorite of the Tea Party movement, has built a big lead over Secretary of State Trey Grayson in the race for the GOP Senate nomination in Kentucky, according to a SurveyUSA poll conducted April 9-11. The race has been depicted as a test of the movement's influence, pitting a candidate trying to capitalize on the voter anger it reflects against an establishment Republican who has won re-election to his position three times. Grayson has fought back with TV ads honing in on Paul's "strange ideas," such as saying "Paul even...

Why in the hell is Karl Rove on my TV? Why is Karl Rove on my radio? Why is Karl Rove on anywhere? Unless he’s on trial or being interrogated, I can’t imagine of what possible use this George W. Bush relic could be to conservatives and yet he’s everywhere, hocking his book “Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight,” a title as credibly right-wing as Stephen Colbert and as historically accurate as the movie “Titanic.” Craig Shirley and former Reagan official Donald Devine summed up Rove’s duplicity well in this week’s Washington Post: “From William...

(snip) Mr. Grayson argues that some of Dr. Paul’s ideas (getting rid of the Departments of Energy, Education and Commerce) are too “weird” for Kentucky. And in increasingly sharp ads, he argues that Dr. Paul is downright dangerous when it comes to foreign policy. “Here’s a guy who is outside of the Republican mainstream,” Mr. Grayson said in an interview here. (snip)

The Libertarian Party of Kentucky recently held its nominating convention for 2010 elections and failed to nominate a candidate for Senate. Similarly, the Constitution Party of Kentucky is rumored to be avoiding the Senate race ostensibly because of Rand Paul’s presence in that race. Rand Paul, a Republican candidate for the open U.S. Senate seat in Kentucky is currently ahead in polling by double digits and is largely considered the frontrunner. Rand Paul is the son of Congressman and former Libertarian Party Presidential candidate Ron Paul.K. Joshua Koch, vice chair of the Kentucky Libertarian Party, was an early supporter of...

Earlier today one person who commented on my post "Rand Paul's Latest Ad Raises Questions" suggested that Trey Grayson has some "strange relationships." Since then others have jumped on the suggestion and begun digging deeper into Grayson's relationship with the group who lobbied for AIG, "DC Navigators, LLC". It will be remembered that only a few weeks ago the Grayson campaign proudly announced that they had received the endorsement of Dick Cheney. Today we learn that Cheney's daughter, Mary Cheney, has been an officer of the AIG lobbying firm. Then it was revealed that Cesar V. Conda, the former Cheney...

Eye surgeon Rand Paul on Monday will launch his largest television ad buy yet in Kentucky's hotly contested GOP Senate primary. Paul's new 30 second ad, which campaign manager David Adams said is at least a 1000 point broadcast buy in every major media market in the state, seeks to paint his primary opponent Trey Grayson as the candidate of Washington, D.C., insiders. "Grayson's raising campaign money from the very people who supported the bailouts," the new ad states. "His biggest event, hosted by lobbyists for bailed out AIG. .. .Rand Paul can't be bought. He'll take our government back...

Florence, Kentucky – Former Vice President Dick Cheney announced today that he is endorsing Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate.

Chief of the U.S. Military: Shut down Guantanamo Bay Published on 25 May 2009 by admin in General News, In The Media Admiral Mike Mullen stated it simply, “I’d like to see it shut down.” Mullen believes Guantanamo has significantly damaged the reputation of the United States, even going so far as to say (in other articles) that it has been a powerful recruiting tool for Islamic terrorists. Rand couldn’t agree more. Rand believes America can fight terrorism and maintain its moral integrity without resorting to offshore prison camps, “prolonged detention”, and other, highly questionable legal measures. For Rand, national...

Frankfort, Kentucky - Republican Rand Paul has raised more than $200,000 in a matter of hours through an Internet fundraiser for his U.S. Senate campaign. The Bowling Green physician's campaign, which has banked more than $2 million since entering the race, called on supporters to contribute during a one-day fund drive on Tuesday.

Rand Paul supporters target Kentucky Democrat ChandlerBy John Cheves | Lexington Herald-LeaderAhead in recent polls, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul came to Lexington Friday to share the spotlight with five men who want to replace U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler, D-Versailles.Paul and the GOP congressional candidates staged a lunchtime "Take Back the House" rally outside Chandler's district office on Beaumont Centre Circle.Paul, who faces Secretary of State Trey Grayson in the May 18 Republican primary, told a crowd of about 100 people that the Tea Party movement is a tidal wave that will sweep incumbents out of Congress in November."We...

Friends of Trey Grayson / Johnson Senate Committee Joint Press ReleaseFor Immediate Release:                                                             Wednesday, February 24, 2010                                                             Contact:  Nate Hodson (Friends of Trey Grayson)(859) 757-4349 / nate@treygrayson.com              Contact: Jennifer Walker (Johnson Senate Committee)(270) 604-1164 / press@kentuckybill.com Florence, Kentucky –            Secretary of State Trey Grayson and Businessman Bill Johnson, both Republican candidates for U.S. Senate issued the following response today to the claims contained in Rand Paul’s radio ad on the topic of abortion:               “There’s no ‘probably’ when it comes to the issue of partial birth abortion among Kentucky pro-life activists,� said Grayson.  “Whether it’s Bill Johnson...

Ron Paul was the straw poll winner at the CPAC convention last weekend – but Sarah Palin is the early frontrunner in bluegrass country. Colorado-based GOP pollster Magellan Strategies threw a POTUS 2012 question into a statewide poll of 560 Kentucky Republican voters and found Palin leading the pack with 28 percent of the vote – with Mike Huckabee a close second with 24 percent. Mitt Romney was at 16 percent, undecided landed at 14, Newt Gingrich got 12, followed by Paul with 4 percent and Tim Pawlenty dead last at two percent. The takeaway: Huckabee’s going to be a...

Poll: Rand Paul Easily Leads in Senate RaceBy David Weigel 2/24/10 11:05 AM For some reason, Kentucky U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul never gets called the "frontrunner" in that race. Secretary of State Trey Grayson, seen as the favorite of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), still receives that title. But it's another day and another poll -- this one from Magellan Strategies -- showing Paul crushing Grayson. He has a nearly 2-1 lead, 44 percent to Grayson's 23 percent, and a whopping 31-point net favorable rating to Grayson's 11-point net favorable rating.The secret to Paul's success? He's not seen as a...

RAND PAUL LEADS TREY GRAYSON FOR US SENATE GOP NOMINATION 44% TO 23% AMONG LIKELY KENTUCKY REPUBLICAN PRIMARY VOTERS, 67% HAVE A FAVORABLE IMAGE OF THE TEA PARTY MOVEMENT, PALIN LEADS HUCKABEE IN PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY BALLOT TEST 28% TO 24%

Live Kentucky Senatorial Debate. Can Rand Paul maintain momentum and handle the pressure of front runner? find out this afternoon in the live debate for the Republican nomination for U.S Senate in the state of Kentucky. This is the live thread, hopefully the stream works!

Who could it be? David Adams, Rand Paul's campaign manager claims on Twitter: 'thought Rand Paul had already gotten the best endorsement in the country, but have even bigger news coming soon. You will never guess.'