Here are ten things you need to know today.
- Mourdock ousts Lugar: Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock won his primary challenge to incumbent Sen. Richard Lugar on Tuesday with 60.6 percent to Lugar’s 39.4 percent. Mourdock will now run against Rep. Joe Donnelly in the general election.
- Anti-same sex marriage amendment passes: North Carolina voters on Tuesday approved Amendent One, an amendment to their state constitution which defines the only recognized legal union as a marriage between one man and one woman, banning not only same-sex marriage but also civil unions for all couples. The amendment passed 61.3 percent to 38.7 percent and could go into effect as early as next week. Top Democrats, including President Obama and Bill Clinton had come out against Amendment One.
- Barrett beats Falk in Wisconsin: Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett beat Democratic primary rival former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk and will challenge Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in his recall election on June 5. The recall election will be a rematch between Walker and Barrett, who faced off in 2010.
- Lugar slams Mourdock: Sen. Richard Lugar issued a statement after his loss to Richard Mourdock Tuesday, slamming the Senate nominee and thrilling Democrats. “[H]is embrace of an unrelenting partisan mindset is irreconcilable with my philosophy of governance and my experience of what brings results for Hoosiers in the Senate,” Lugar said. “In effect, what he has promised in this campaign is reflexive votes for a rejectionist orthodoxy and rigid opposition to the actions and proposals of the other party.” Mourdock attacked Lugar in the final days of the campaign for refusing to commit to supporting Mourdock over the Democrat if Mourdock became the nominee.
- Dems see ‘pick up opportunity’ in Indiana Senate: DSCC executive director Guy Cecil issued a memo Wednesday morning suggesting that Indiana Senate nominee Richard Mourdock would be the next Ken Buck, the tea party nominee in Colorado in 2010 whose extreme positions cost him the election. It concludes: “Last night’s results make Indiana a prime pick up opportunity for Democrats. There are a lot of longtime Lugar supporters waking up this morning and looking for a mainstream moderate. Richard Mourdock’s ideological extremism doesn’t fit the bill. Joe Donnelly does.”
- Progressive group up with new attack on Walker: The Progressive Change Campaign Committee is up with a new ad in Wisconsin following the primary elections to remind voters of the protests last winter and the reason for the Walker recall. The ad buy is for $30,000 in Madison including spots on the Colbert Report and the Sunday shows. PCCC intends to expand the ad buy and air several ads in the lead-up to the recall on June 5. “This ad is a reminder of how that fight started — and it encourages folks across Wisconsin to finish the job,” said PCCC co-founder Adam Green.
- U.S. Chamber goes on air in state races: The Republican-friendly U.S. Chamber of Commerce is going up on the air with ads targeting key Senate races as well as 17 House races, reports the AP. The ads are part of a multi-million ad buy that will be up on air for the next 10 days at least in Florida, Missouri, Hawaii and Ohio targeting Senate races. The Chamber is focused on House races in New York, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Rhode Island, Florida and Georgia.
- Barber releases new ad: Former Gabrielle Giffords aide Ron Barber who is running for her House seat against Jesse Kelly is up with a new ad attacking Kelly over comments he’s made in support of privatizing Social Security and phasing out Medicare.
- Upcoming Florida poll: Look out for a Suffolk University poll of Florida voters coming out at 6 PM ET Wednesday evening and more on Thursday at 6 PM. The poll of general election voters looks at the impact of the President’s media ad buys as well as voters’ opinions on the Trayvon Martin case, the direction of Florida and the country, the national debt, the economy and taxation, among other issues.
- Romney campaigns in Colorado and Oklahoma: Romney will hold a campaign event in Fort Lupton, Colorado Wednesday, at at 9:30AM MDT. Romney will then head to Oklahoma where he’ll hold an event at Oklahoma Republican Party Headquarters in Oklahoma City with Gov. Mary Fallin at 3:20 PM CDT.
