Banker Dave Cuddy spent $1.3 million of his own money chasing Alaska's GOP Senate nomination, but he failed to persuade voters to dump longtime incumbent Ted Stevens.
Stevens, seeking his fifth term, received 57 percent of the vote Tuesday, while Cuddy, heir to an Anchorage-based banking fortune, got 29 percent.Former Anchorage School Board member Theresa Obermeyer won the Democratic nomination against six rivals. Also on the November ballot will be Green Party candidate Jed Whittaker.
Stevens, 72, is heavily favored for re-election. If the Republicans retain control of the Senate, he probably will become chairman of the Appropriations Committee.
Republican Rep. Don Young, the state's lone congressional member, was easily renominated for a 13th term. He'll face state Sen. Georgianna Lincoln, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary.
In Oklahoma, Sen. Jim Inhofe faced token opposition in the GOP primary. He faces Democrat Jim Boren, a professor who in the past has poked fun at government but now wants to follow in the footsteps of his more well-known cousin.
David Boren left the Senate in 1994 to become president of the University of Oklahoma. Inhofe, 61, was elected to finish his term, and is now seeking a full six-year term. He received 75 percent of the vote Tuesday to defeat Tulsa attorney Dan Lowe.
Jim Boren, 70, a political satirist-turned-professor, got 55 percent of the vote to defeat two Democratic rivals.