PHOENIX: Arizona voters were to decide the fate of former Republican presidential candidate John McCain Tuesday in one of several closely-watched US races seen as a test of the country`s anti-incumbent mood.
The four-term senator was polling well ahead of former congressman and conservative talkshow host J.D. Hayworth, but his rival waged a serious enough campaign to force the once moderate McCain to beat a hasty path to the right.
The race was among several primary votes being examined for signs of whether anger at Washington will unseat incumbents hoping to win their party`s nomination to run for various political offices in November mid-term elections.
Arizona voters headed to the polls amid an extended heat warming and high humidity that encouraged many, including McCain and Hayworth, to cast their ballots early.
Election officials said only a quarter of eligible voters were participating in the primary, with some saying they were tired of the race`s negative tone.
The rhetoric turned angry when Hayworth criticized McCain`s stance on immigration and border security, saying the senator had let constituents down.
"You’re no longer a statesman, you’re simply a political shape shifter," Hayworth said at a campaign debate last month. "Shame on you."
McCain`s campaign struck back, pointing to ties between Hayworth and disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who was imprisoned on conspiracy and tax evasion charges in 2006, and digging into a campaign war chest of over 20 million dollars.
"They`ve outspent us by 10 to 1, and it`s hard to compete against deep pockets," said Mark Sanders, a spokesman for Hayworth.
The Arizona race was the most high-profile of the primary votes being held Tuesday, but just one of several pitting veteran politicians against insurgent candidates, often with significantly more radical views.
In Florida, early results showed voters handing victory in the Democratic Senate primary to former congressman Kendrick Meek, who was supported by both President Barack Obama and former president Bill Clinton.
His victory over Jeff Greene, a billionaire running as an outsider, who spent an estimated 20 million dollars on his campaign, suggested that insurgent challengers could not overcome establishment candidates across the board.
But Florida`s Republican primary for governor showed exactly what the party`s old guard fears.
The state`s attorney general Bill McCollum was narrowly defeated by Rick Scott, a former health care lobbyist with no political experience who ran on a platform that included opposition to Obama`s health care reform and spent some 50 million dollars on his campaign.
The race was not the only Florida primary marked by the involvement of a hardline conservative.
The Republican Senate contest was easily won by Marco Rubio, but only after his challenge prompted the one-time frontrunner for the nomination -- Governor Charlie Crist -- to drop out of the race and register as an independent.
Crist`s fate underlined fears among many Republicans that the conservative Tea Party movement, which embraced Rubio, would help oust moderate Republicans.
But McCain, who was leading Hayworth by double digits in polling ahead of the vote, looked likely to show that long-time Republicans could win races, albeit only by making significant concessions to the party`s right wing.
Elsewhere in Arizona, observers were watching a North Phoenix congressional race in which ten Republicans were vying for the nomination, including Ben Quayle, the 33-year old son of former Vice President Dan Quayle.
And the state`s Governor Jan Brewer was expected to cruise to an easy primary victory, defying those who wrote her off as unelectable after a state fiscal crisis by winning massive support for a tough bill targeting illegal immigrants.
Other primaries were being held in Vermont and Alaksa.
BDST: 1108 HRS, August 25, 2010
