The strongest candidate also failed to win the nod in CD-5, Harry Mitchell's district.  But as in district 1, that may not matter this year.  David Schweikert will be the one to test the strength of the red wave here in November.  Then there's CD-8.  For the third time in as many races in the Grand Canyon State, the weaker general election candidate took the nomination.  According to Karl Raszewski, political media strategist and EP's "on the ground" reporter, incumbent Gabrielle Giffords can breathe a bit easier knowing she'll face Jesse Kelly, a one-issue (border security) candidate, instead of conservative State Senator Jonathan Paton.

Currently, all three of these seats are projected to stay in Democratic hands, albeit by slim margins.

Florida's results yesterday were much more GOP-friendly.  In CD-2, the contested primary actually took place on the Democratic side where incumbent Allen Boyd narrowly withstood a strong challenge from Al Lawson.  Ironically, GOP nominee Steve Southerland will likely have a better shot to take the seat now that Boyd has survived.  Another positive primary result - at least for GOP fans - came down in Alan Grayson's eighth district.  Daniel Webster, a favorite of Marco Rubio conservatives, won the nomination over Crist backers' man, Kurt Kelly.  Grayson is not expected to prevail in November, an outlook that became more likely with Webster's win.

In CD-25, a rare vulnerable Republican seat, the strongest Republican candidate, David Rivera, won easily but now faces a serious challenge from Democrat Joe Garcia.  This race should be a tight one all the way to November 2nd.  The projection here stands at Mod GOP Hold, but don't be surprised for this one to buck the national trend and move toward blue as we move toward Election Day.



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