Issue #97

by Art Kelly

Populist conservatives backed by the Tea Party movement won big victories over establishment Republicans in primary elections in South Carolina and Utah.

The New York Times reported the tallies in both states.

In Utah, with 99% of the vote counted, the results for U.S. senator were:

Mike Lee 92,544 (51.1%)
Tim Bridgewater 88,560 (48.9%)

Both Lee and Bridgewater finished ahead of Senator Robert Bennett, a supporter of the 2008 Wall Street Bailout, in the Republican State Convention and qualified for the primary. Bennett then endorsed Bridgewater as the more moderate candidate. Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) and Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) endorsed Lee as the more conservative.

In South Carolina, with 100% of the vote counted, the results of the runoff primary elections were:

Governor
Nikki Haley 233,332 (65.0%)
Gresham Barrett 125,408 (35.0%)

Congress, 1st District
Tim Scott 46,885 (68.4%)
Paul Thurmond 21,706 (31.6%)

Congress, 4th District
Trey Gowdy 54,354 (70.7%)
Bob Inglis 22,547 (29.3%)

As reported in a recent issue of this newsletter, Haley nearly captured a majority of the vote in the first primary against three major opponents. In the runoff, her landslide victory over Congressman Barrett, who supported the Wall Street Bailout, has made her a new national star. A video of Haley’s election night victory speech is available on Columbia’s WIS-TV website.

Scott, the first black Republican in the South Carolina Legislature in more than a century, defeated Thurmond, a member of the Charleston County Council and the son of the late legendary senator.

Gowdy, a circuit prosecutor, crushed Inglis, who voted for the Wall Street Bailout. CQ-Roll Call reported that, in the runoff, Inglis “took an apologetic tone when he told voters that he’d ‘made mistakes’.” The 29% of the vote for Inglis is one of the lowest percentages an incumbent has ever received who was not embroiled in a scandal.

Richard A. Viguerie, Chairman of ConservativeHQ.com, expressed delight at the results.

In a statement on South Carolina, Viguerie said, “I am so proud of Nikki Haley, Tim Scott, and Trey Gowdy for their great victories. These important races truly have important implications for the future of our nation.

“In the governor’s race and the two congressional races, the candidates associated with the Washington Republican establishment lost and the small government constitutional conservative Tea Party candidates won landside victories. This is alarming news for GOP establishment politicians. The Tea Party steamroller is rolling big government Republicans right of town,” he said.

In another statement following Mike Lee’s victory in Utah, Viguerie said, “This is not your father’s GOP.”

“The 16 month old Tea Party movement is quickly and extensively changing the Republican Party that was so strongly rejected by the American people in 2006 and 2008. The big tent--read big-government--Republican Party of George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, Tom Delay, and Karl Rove has been swept aside and is being replaced by principled, small-government, constitutional conservatives,” he said.