Tuesday’s Senate primary elections in Iowa and Mississippi present two possible futures for the Republican Party. In Iowa, state Sen. Joni Ernst rose above a crowd of contenders to earn endorsements from the full spectrum of the party — from Sarah Palin and the Senate Conservatives Fund to Mitt Romney and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, with Sen. Marco Rubio in between. In the end, Ernst vastly outperformed expectations, taking more than 50 percent of the vote. She united her party and established herself as a formidable candidate in this fall’s election.
Mississippi’s primary result could not have been more different – a bitter feud and an electoral deadlock that will prolong the agony for three more weeks with a runoff election. State Sen. Chris McDaniel finished ahead of incumbent Sen. Thad Cochran but both men were stuck just below the 50-percent threshold.
