'Republican Party has lost its way'
Published:Thursday | September 16, 2010 | 12:00 AM
AP:Fresh from a stunning primary win in Delaware, Republican Christine O'Donnell said yesterday she can win a Senate seat in November with or without help from party officials in Washington.
"There are a lot of people who are rallying behind me who are frustrated that the Republican Party has lost its way," said O'Donnell, who won the nomination with the support of tea party activists. Tea party activists tend to hold conservative and libertarian political views and say government has grown too large, threatening individual liberties.
O'Donnell now enters the fall campaign as an underdog to Democrat Chris Coons.
A few hundred miles to the north, former New Hampshire Attorney General Kelly Ayotte was certified as the winner of that state's Republican nomination to the Senate.
Ayotte was endorsed by former Alaska Gov Sarah Palin and won a narrow victory over Ovide Lamon-tagne. Because she led by just 1,667 votes, her opponent can demand a recount. He has until tonight to decide.
The two Senate-nominating battles were the featured contests at the end of a turbulent primary season in which the political environment seemed to grow steadily more friendly to Republicans, despite a series of upsets sprung by tea party-backed challengers.
10 seats needed
The Republicans need a gain of 10 seats to win control of the Senate this fall, and 40 seats to take a majority in the House.
In New York, tea party ally Carl Paladino dealt another shock to the Republican establishment, defeating former Rep Rick Lazio in the race for the party's nomination for governor. Paladino will face state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, the son of former Gov Mario Cuomo.
Party leaders reacted with a chill to O'Donnell's win over veteran Rep Mike Castle, whom they had recruited as the party's only chance of winning the Senate seat long held by Vice-President Joe Biden.
"This is not a race we're going to be able to win," said Karl Rove, who was the principal political adviser to former President George W. Bush.