Tea Party favorite Joe Miller defeated incumbent Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski for the Republican nomination. This is the seventh establishment GOP candidate to be defeated in a primary this year. Democrat Scott McAdams, the mayor of Sitka and former school board president, will challenge Miller in November.

Two new ads from Democratic Senate candidates hit the airwaves today, one from Joe Sestak in Pennsylvania and the other from Robin Carnahan in Missouri.

Watch Joe Sestak’s ad, “Zero”, here:

And watch Robin Carnahan’s ad, “Mug”, here:

-In Alaska, the extremists of the Tea Party seem to have won yet another Republican primary, as right-wing attorney Joe Miller leads incumbent Senator Lisa Murkowski

Miller could become the sixth Tea Party-backed insurgent to topple a GOP frontrunner.

-In Colorado, Ken Buck has been taking fire from the Denver Post for his hypocrisy on earmarks. Although Buck has crusaded against earmarks during his campaign, even signing an anti-earmark pledge, the Post revealed that Buck himself has requested over $5 million in earmarks. 

Meanwhile the DSCC has gone on the air with an ad against Buck in Colorado, and Buck’s Democratic opponent, Sen. Michael Bennet, has done the same. 

-In Nevada, Sharron Angle has been caught on yet another jaw-droppingly outrageous statement of her campaign, on a radio show with conservative host Bill Manders:

MANDERS: We have domestic enemies. We have home-born homegrown enemies in our system. And I for one think we have some of those enemies in the walls of the Senate and the Congress.

ANGLE: Yes. I think you're right, Bill.

-In Wisconsin, Ron Johnson has been called out for hypocrisy similar to Ken Buck’s: the businessman who rails against government subsidies got at least $4 million in government loans to help build his business. Though Johnson claims “never to have lobbied” for government assistance, there are now four million examples to the contrary.

-Though Pennsylvania Republican Pat Toomey has supported privatizing Social Security for years, he apparently doesn’t want anybody to know. Earlier this week he denied ever having supported the idea:

  “I’ve never said I favor privatizing Social Security,” Toomey said Monday in response to a question at the Press Club of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg. “It’s an intentionally misleading term,” he added.

The DSCC subsequently came up with no fewer than 36 instances where Toomey supported Social Security privatization. Quite the embarrassment for Mr. Toomey.

Senator Wyden is seeking re-election to the U.S. Senate for his third full term. He is committed to fighting for President Obama's agenda of lasting change that works for the people of Oregon. Republicans nominated law professor and political activist Jim Huffman. Expect Senator Wyden to return to the Senate next year.

Senator Leahy is seeking re-election to the U.S. Senate for his seventh term. He is committed to fighting for President Obama's agenda of lasting change that works for the people of Vermont. Republican Businessman Len Britton will challenge Leahy in November.

Senator Mikulski will be running for re-election in 2010. She is being challenged by Queen Anne’s County Commissioner Eric Wargotz, a self-funding Republican, and a number of other GOP candidates. Mikulski won 65% of the vote in 2004. Watch for Mikulski to be serving the people of Maryland for another 6 years.

Sen. Jim DeMint heads into 2010 with many vulnerabilities. In recent years, DeMint has racked up a voting record that is completely out of step with even conservative-minded South Carolina. Whether the issue is health care, economic recovery, or holding up confirmation of important administration officials, DeMint continues to demonstrate that he will place his extreme-right agenda ahead of serving the people of his state. DeMint is increasingly out-of-touch with his constituents, who want common-sense solutions – not far-right ideology – from their elected officials.

In Georgia, Johnny Isakson is running for a second term in the Senate. Democrat Mike Thurmond, Georgia’s labor commissioner, is challenging him in November.

Republican Senator Tom Coburn is seeking another term in the U.S Senate after repeatedly blocking President Obama's efforts to turn our economy around and involving himself in the scandal over disgraced Nevada Senator John Ensign. Democrat Jim Rogers will challenge Coburn in November.

INDIANA UNEMPLOYMENT RATE OF 10.2% IS 40TH IN THE U.S. AND 50% HIGHER THAN IOWA'S UNEMPLOYMENT RATE OF 6.8%

Patty Judge campaigned through eastern Iowa today and James Lynch joined her for one of many great campaign stops today in Vinton:

... successes include Culver's Iowa Power Fund that has attracted investments from energy companies, 261 new companies locating in Iowa, including Microsoft, Google and GoDaddy.com, the $872 million I-JOBS program that is helping communities rebuild after the 2008 flooding, Judge said at stops in Toledo, Vinton and West Branch.

"We're proud in this recession of what we've accomplished in economic development," Judge told 10 Democratic activists at the Koffee Haus in Vinton.

"We're in a national recession," interjected Rosemary Schwartz of Vinton. "We've done pretty well given what we had to work with."

"We need you to say just that," Judge said.

We do need you to get involved. Sign up to support the campaign today and do it before 11:59 tomorrow night and you could also join Patty Judge and Governor Culver for the Iowa vs Iowa State game.

Story County Supervisor Jane Halliburton will be honored for her 24 years of service on the county board at a fall barbecue in Ames this Saturday (Sept. 4).

Halliburton is retiring at the end of the year.

State Treasurer Mike Fitzgerald and Secretary of State Mike Mauro are the featured speakers.

Everyone is welcome to attend the barbecue, which is also a fundraiser for Democratic candidates running for county offices. The event will take place at the Izaak Walton League Lodge on Stagecoach Road in Ames starting at 4:30 p.m.

Barbecue pork as well as a vegetarian entrée will be served, along with side dishes and beverages.

Admission is by any donation at the door.

More information is available by calling Jan Bauer at 268-0313, or at StoryDems@yahoo.com.