Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has won the Republican nomination, the Associated Press projects. McConnell held off a primary challenge from Matt Bevin, currently winning 60 percent of the vote to Bevin’s 35 percent. The call was made shortly after polls in Kentucky closed at 7 pm.
On the Democratic side, secretary of state Alison Lundergan Grimes easily won her primary. Grimes is hoping to deny McConnell a sixth term in the Senate.
Bevin’s candidacy was supported by the Senate Conservatives Fund, but the SCF’s Twitter account offered McConnell congratulations:
We congratulate Senator McConnell and urge Republicans to come together to defeat Alison Lundergan Grimes. #KYsen http://t.co/aLjScWaBca
— Senate Conservatives (@SCF) May 20, 2014
