Scott Brown wins GOP nod for N.H. Senate seat

Former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, a front-runner since he announced his bid in April, glided to an easy win Tuesday in the Republican primary for Senate in neighboring New Hampshire.

Brown was one of 10 candidates on the Republican ballot seeking to challenge first-term Democratic incumbent Sen. Jeanne Shaheen in November. That race is among those expected to decide control of the Senate for the final two years of President Barack Obama’s term.

Brown won a special election in 2010 in Massachusetts to finish the term of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, but he lost his bid for a full term two years later to Democrat Elizabeth Warren. Late last year, he moved to New Hampshire and won praise for not taking this primary campaign for granted.

“Some thought he might have an ‘above it all' campaign,” former state Republican Party Chairman Fergus Cullen said. “But the guy has earned it.”

In addition to Massachusetts, Delaware, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island held primary elections Tuesday. Here are the highlights:

Cuomo challenged from the left in New York

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo didn’t end up having much to worry about when it came to winning his Democratic primary against Zephyr Teachout, a largely unknown liberal activist.

But Teachout’s presence on the ballot nonetheless served as a referendum on Cuomo among liberals, highlighting his uneasy relationship with the party base. Cuomo won the race with ease, but he fell far shy of posting the kind of overwhelming victory that might have been expected from a popular incumbent aiming to win a second term in November.

Teachout is a Fordham University law professor and former director of the good-government Sunlight Foundation who criticized Cuomo for his support for charter schools and business-friendly tax cuts, while saying he hasn’t done enough to address government corruption and income inequality.

Cuomo spent most of the primary race publicly ignoring Teachout, refusing multiple requests to debate her and holding few campaign events. His campaign sought to kick Teachout off the ballot by challenging her New York state residency, a legal maneuver that many observers say backfired by giving Teachout’s campaign greater exposure.

Cuomo moves on to face Republican Rob Astorino, the Westchester County executive, and Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins in November.

Three more races for governor

Three states were picking nominees for governor:

Havenstein said his leadership at defense contractors BAE Systems and SAIC gives him the experience to run a state and manage multibillion-dollar budgets. He now faces first-term incumbent Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan.

Coakley will face Republican Charlie Baker will gets another shot at winning the Massachusetts governor’s office in November after cruising to a decisive win in his party’s primary, easily defeating fellow GOP candidate Mark Fisher.

The victory by the former Harvard Pilgrim Health Care executive over the tea party-affiliated business owner wasn’t unexpected. Baker had led Fisher in polls throughout the campaign.

Baker, who lost to Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick four years ago, hopes a well-financed campaign and sharpened message can lead to a win in solidly Democratic Massachusetts.

The state’s general treasurer trumpeted her leadership in overhauling the state’s troubled pension system, and in the process outraised and outspent both of her opponents, shelling out more than $5 million.

Raimondo will face Cranston Mayor Allan Fung, who beat businessman Ken Block, founder of the Moderate Party, on the Republican side of the ballot.

Michelle Kwan’s race

Ex-Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan had hoped to be the next first lady of Rhode Island. She’s married to Clay Pell and appeared in some of his ads, made frequent appearances on the campaign trail and promoted his candidacy to her Twitter followers.

Earlier this year, Kwan was spotted at the Sochi Olympics passing out Pell buttons to athletes.

Kwan’s Prius even figured into the race when it was twice reported stolen. The first time, Pell simply forgot where he parked it. The second, Pell left it unlocked outside their home near Brown University in Providence after dropping the key between the seats, and it was actually stolen.

Kwan is the most decorated figure skater in U.S. history. The five-time world champion won a bronze medal in the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and a silver at the 1998 games in Nagano, Japan.

House race in Massachusetts

Nine-term U.S. Rep. John Tierney conceded defeat to former Marine Seth Moulton after a hard-fought Democratic primary in Massachusetts’ 6th Congressional District.

Moulton is an Iraq war veteran from Salem. He will now face Republican Richard Tisei (tih-SAY') in the November election.

Moulton ran a well-financed campaign in his bid to unseat Tierney, suggesting the incumbent had been ineffective in Congress. Tierney launched a recent TV ad suggesting Moulton’s campaign was being financed by people who support Republicans.

Moulton argued he would have a stronger chance of holding off Tisei, who lost to Tierney by less than 1 percent of the vote in the 2012 election.

Buddy Cianci, Part III

Jorge Elorza, a law professor and former housing court judge, has won the Democratic primary for Providence, R.I., mayor. He will face former mayor and twice-convicted felon Buddy Cianci, an independent who last held office in 2002 before being sent to prison for presiding over widespread corruption at City Hall.

Elorza says he’s built a coalition of voters, including those in the city’s wealthy enclaves around Brown University and from the city’s growing Hispanic community.

It’s a second comeback attempt for Cianci. He was forced from office in 1984 after an assault conviction, but he was re-elected in 1990.

Republican Dan Harrop will also appear on the ballot in November.

Another Senate race in Delaware

The Delaware primary included a GOP contest won by businessman Kevin Wade, who advanced to wage an underdog battle against incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Chris Coons. Coons’ seat is not considered among those in play as Republicans and Democrats battle for control of the Senate.

Wade, who easily defeated 81-year-old Carl Smink in Tuesday’s primary, taking more than 75 percent of the vote with 71 precincts reporting, said he intends to contrast his views with Coons’ voting record.

Despite the Senate race, the eyes of many political observers were on the state treasurer’s race, where financial executive Ken Simpler and Milford businesswoman Sher Valenzuela were competing for the Republican nomination. Simpler won that race and advances to take on Democrat Sean Barney in November.

A planned Democratic primary for treasurer was scrapped two weeks ago after incumbent Chip Flowers withdrew from the race following an accusation that he had harassed his former deputy treasurer. With his withdrawal, Flowers ceded the Democratic nomination to Barney, a former aide to Carper and Gov. Jack Markell.

Up next

Tuesday is the final primary election of the 2014 midterms until Election Day – for every state but Louisiana. The same day, Nov. 4, Louisiana holds a “jungle primary,” with all candidates on the ballot, even those of the same party. If no candidate receives 50 percent-plus-one vote during the primary election, a runoff election will be held on Dec. 6 between the top two vote-getters in the primary.

This story was originally published September 9, 2014 at 7:45 PM.