Richard Lugar loses primary to Tea Party challenger Mourdock

Sen. Richard Lugar speaks to supporters Tuesday, May 8, 2012, in Indianapolis. Lugar lost his Republican Senate primary on Tuesday to state Treasurer Richard Mourdock.

/ AP

Updated 9:55 p.m. Eastern Time

(CBS News) Sen. Richard Lugar - the longest-serving senator in Indiana history - has lost his Republican Senate primary on Tuesday to state Treasurer Richard Mourdock.

With 99 percent of the vote in, Lugar trailed Mourdock 61 percent to 39 percent. The 80-year-old senator congratulated Mourdock in brief remarks to supporters Tuesday night and said he hoped his primary rival would win in November, though he later released a critical statement hammering Mourdock's "unrelenting partisan mindset."

Lugar's exit from the Senate could contribute to the further polarization of an already bitterly-divided Congress.

Lugar has served in the Senate since 1976. The top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he is known for his extensive work on crafting bipartisan foreign policy, which has included reaching across the aisle to pass legislation with Democrat Sam Nunn to disarm nuclear warheads in the former Soviet Union. Lugar's willingness to work with Democrats made him a target: Mourdock ran ads showing President Obama discussing reaching out to Lugar as evidence that the six-term senator should be defeated.

In his remarks Tuesday evening, Lugar said he believes "our political system still can work."

"I believe that people of goodwill, regardless of party, can work together for the benefit of our country," he added. 

The 60-year-old Mourdock, who told the New York Times it is "time for confrontation" as opposed to collegiality, also criticized Lugar for supporting the financial bailout, President Obama's Supreme Court nominees and raising the debt limit. His message was amplified by the Tea Party-aligned FreedomWorks, which held "activist training" sessions and made phone calls on Mourdock's behalf, and the super PAC Club for Growth, which spent more than $1.4 million on the race. (Lugar's campaign, which had spent $6.7 million on the race as of April, did significantly outspend Mourdock's, which had spent $2 million as of April.)

Richard Mourdock celebrates his Indiana Senate primary win over Richard Lugar, May 8, 2012.

/ CBS News

Mourdock and his allies also spotlighted the fact that Lugar no longer seemed to live in the state that he represents: In March, he was declared ineligible to vote in his home precinct, having effectively moved his family to suburban Washington in 1977 after selling his house in Indiana.

They also argued that despite his lifetime rating of 77 out of 100 from the American Conservative Union - a rating that reflects a relatively conservative voting record - Lugar had drifted to the left of the conservative Indiana Republican electorate.

In his remarks Tuesday evening, Mourdock called Lugar a "truly great public servant" who "deserves the respect of each and every one of us." He later said that the Tea Party played a "vital role" in his victory, which he attributed to Indiana Republicans wanting a senator who will follow "a more conservative track."

In a prepared statement after his remarks Tuesday night, Lugar was harshly critical of Mourdock, saying that if he wants to be a good senator, "that will require him to revise his stated goal of bringing more partisanship to Washington."

"He and I share many positions, but his 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," he continued. "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...This is not conducive to problem solving and governance. And he will find that unless he modifies his approach, he will achieve little as a legislator. Worse, he will help delay solutions that are totally beyond the capacity of partisan majorities to achieve."

The Indiana race was being closely watched in the Senate, where it was taken as the latest sign that cooperation across the aisle may well result in defeat. The 2010 midterm elections resulted in the defeat of Utah Sen. Robert Bennett, who had a similar reputation to that of Lugar, at the hands of Tea Party activists.

Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called Lugar's loss "a tragedy for the Senate."

"This is a tough period in American politics, but I'd like to think that we'll again see a United States Senate where Dick Lugar's brand of thoughtful, mature, and bi-partisan work is respected and rewarded," he said. "That kind of seriousness of purpose should never go out of fashion."

Added President Obama in a statement: "While Dick and I didn't always agree on everything, I found during my time in the Senate that he was often willing to reach across the aisle and get things done."

Other Democrats celebrated Mourdock's victory, which they said would put the seat up for grabs. (One Democratic poll in March showed The Democratic candidate, Rep. Joe Donnelly, leading Mourdock in a head-to-head race.) Republican need a net gain of four seats to take control of the Senate, and they are expected to at least come close to doing so. Donnelly, a conservative Democrat, supports gun rights and the Keystone pipeline and opposes abortion rights and climate change legislation. 

"Tonight's results make the Indiana Senate race a toss-up race," said Guy Cecil, Executive Director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

MORE FROM TUESDAY:

Romney sweeps Tuesday primaries

Barrett set to face Walker in Wisconsin recall election

North Carolina passes amendment banning same-sex marriage

[thebob-bob]

There is clearly one political party in The Middle and there is one political party on the far-right fringe.

America knows the difference.

Obama 2012!

[abby_del_abbey]

Lugar's defeat is symbolic of the loss of rationality and reason and statesmanship in American politics whereas the gains of the Tea Party are a demonstration of rise of extremism in America.

Sadly, Lugar with whom I did not always agree was a statesman who understood the value of compromise and integrity.

For America the rise of the Tea Party should be a clear warning that extremism is rearing its ugly head.

Extremism of any sort is dangerous. When extremism makes inroads, the paths lead to destruction.

[stljoe]

It looks to me like the election was a clear warning to politicians that they need to represent their constituents not the DC chattering class. Indiana voted for someone who better represented their views. That is how elections are supposed to work. They are not supposed to be a rubber stamp for incumbents the opposing party prefers.

[Yeah_Its_Me]

stljoe - "clear" ... I doubt that. Considering most people support raising taxes and cutting spending, while the GOP steadfastly refuses that, shows the GOP doesn't care about their constituents' wishes.

[infantryman1968]

by GoogleMormonism May 9, 2012 2:11 PM EDT
In the past 12 months, storm troopers have assaulted peaceful demonstrations for Democracy, justice, free speech and the rule of law, in Russia, Syria, England, Libya, Greece, Egypt, China, Yemen, Bahrain, Israel, and the USA, brutalizing decent people who want to restore their nations to the Clinton era prosperity brought on by fair regulation and taxation, as well as equal rights for all citizens.
And yet, those Patriots keep on coming out, in defiance of the Fascists, and to express their human rights, even though the Fascists monitor their speech on social media, and their movements with GPS .
Freedom loving people all over the world are thrilled to see them win this struggle against oppression, whether it's Syria, North Korea, Israel, or the USA.
May God have mercy on the anti American GOP economic terrorists who are fighting against the tide of freedom.


LOL!


You described the National Amercian Socialist Democrat Party perfectly.

No get out there and buy Volt to save GM and our Planet!

[BlameRepublicanz]

of course Lugar was going to lose...he's about rationality and compromise for the good of the people...not exactly things the modern day Obama-haters embody...they are about hyper-partisanship and stubbornness.

[audemus]

Yet another nail in the Republican coffin.

[audemus]

Actually, chevy, a lot of the blame for the coming demise of the Republican party is being laid at the doorstep of your precious little Tea-Partiers, and rightly so. The current "do-nothing" Congress got that way in large part to that 2010 class of extremists you seem to be so fond of, and truthfully, instead of them getting stronger, they're being exposed on a daily basis for the mean-spirited, ignorant nut-jobs they are. They do nothing but lay open the dark interior of the true right-wing character, and for that, we all should be thankful.

As for your comments on the bridge-bombing "conspiracy" and the OWS and all that paranoid crap, you really don't want to engage in comparing lists of illegal or even alleged illegal actions committed in the name of political movements and partys....your conservative Republican cronies would look especially bad.

[beachbear2012]

A reply to the reply of chevhotrod. Why in the world would anyone want to blow up a bridge in an American city when they can just stand around for awhile and watch if fall down all on it's own poor under engineering and maintenance

[cbs_bull]

Republican party is becoming a party of extreme in recent years ...

[occupy_cbs]

infantryman: "Still hitting the Boons Farm"




We know.....it's obvious from your posts that show an outright divorce from reality!

Try kicking the Boone's Farm habit and turn off the fox/rush propaganda so you will be at least better informed and coherent!

[infantryman1968]

LOL!

The difference between Carter and Obama is Carter had no idea what was coming his way and Obama clearly does.......

The Irony.

[mountainstates1]

Republican party of "hate" eating their own. You gotta love it!

[redbeachvn]

I wonder what would have happened to all those Soviet era nuclear warheads including the backpack ones if it wasn't for Sen Lugar's efforts. I suspect they may have ended up in the hands of terrorists. Sad day for USA. As for Mourdock's comments on bail outs, he must have information and knowledge that majority of economists don't have. Most economists agree if it was not for the bail out we would be in world wide depressing greater than what we saw in the 30s. All well, ignorance is bliss.

[infantryman1968]

LOL!

Yea, they also agreed that U.S. unemployment would not go higher than 8%, GDP would remain above 4.5% and the demand for Solar, Wind and Electric Powered Cars would create 6 million new 50K+/ Year jobs........

The Irony.

[occupy_cbs]

chevyhotrod: "Calling people insulting names is not compromising or working together".




I agree, and I'm still waiting for the rabid republicans and especially the teabagging extremists to stop the insults and ingenuous attacks on President Obama that have existed since 2008!

The fact still remains that the current rabid republicans have purged all their moderates out of the party, have no idea of what compromise means, and will continue to be obstructionists following the lobbyist grover nitwitt over the cliff of fiscal recklessness!



Isn't it ironic that those who cast themselves as the stoutest defenders of the Constitution and who promote the genius of the Founding Fathers are the same ones who can't accept that there is a Senate controlled by duly elected members of the other party, not to mention a House minority that opposes them? The Founders understood the political imperative and expressly designed a Congress that takes it all into account. To say that the opposition should roll over because Americans spoke clearly in the last election doesn't reckon for the fact that the Founders staggered elections for a purpose, and that voters have sent a Democrat to the White House and to the majority in the Senate in previous elections.