Rand Paul Wins Kentucky's GOP Primary

Rand Paul has won the GOP Senate Primary in Kentucky:

WASHINGTON – Rand Paul, one of the early leaders of the Tea Party movement, won the Republican nomination for Senate from Kentucky Tuesday night, delivering a powerful blow to the party’s establishment and offering the clearest evidence yet of the strength of the anti-government sentiment simmering at the grass-roots level.

Mr. Paul, the son of Representative Ron Paul of Texas, easily defeated Trey Grayson, the Secretary of State from Kentucky. Kentucky voters turned against Mr. Grayson even though he had the support of the state’s best-known political leader – Senator Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader.

The result appeared less a rebuke of Mr. McConnell – who by most indications remains popular in his home—than a message to the political establishment in Washington. Mr. Paul’s campaign was specifically directed against what he said were the abuses of Washington insiders in the form of excessive spending and government regulation, as he gave voice to the Tea Party movement

It remains to be seen how big a difference Tea Party support means in a general election; many Democrats, and some Republicans, believe that Mr. Paul’s views are enough out-of-the-mainstream to make him an easier target than Mr. Grayson against the Democratic nominee in the fall.

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