The headline result is summarized by the headline on Jennifer Rubin’s blog post at the Washington Post this morning: “the Tea Party comes up dry.” True, but there were special factors in each case she cites. Sen. Thad Cochran won the runoff in Mississippi largely because of support from usually Democratic black voters who were eligible to vote under state law. I’ll have more to say on that in a later blog post.

Rep. James Lankford, the winner over T.W. Shannon in the Oklahoma Senate primary for Tom Coburn‘s seat, had support from Coburn and from many religious conservatives; he’s only a two-term House incumbent and used to head the largest religious children’s summer camp in the country. Former Rep. Bob Beauprez led loudmouthed immigration opponent former Rep. Tom Tancredo in the Colorado gubernatorial primary; Tancredo’s chances in the general election seemed dubious to many voters. Incumbent Rep. Richard Hanna narrowly defeated a challenger in upstate New York.