Politics Update.

From ABC via Yahoo News:

Florida tea party favorite appears to take down 12-term GOP congressthingee
 

Twelve-term Rep. Cliff Stearns trails his Republican primary opponent in Florida with 100 percent of precincts reporting.

Tea partyer Ted Yoho, a veterinarian and political newcomer, leads Stearns by 829 votes in a shocking upset, the Associated Press reported. Redistricting forced Stearns into a geographically larger, newly drawn district stretching north and west of his old territory, into Florida's panhandle.

One of Stearns' opponents, Clay County Clerk of Courts James Jett, alleged in March that Stearns had attempted to bribe him out of the race through a middleman. A Stearns spokesman denied the accusation. Jett ranks fourth in the unexpectedly crowded primary with 14 percent.

The winner of tea-party straw polls in Gainesville, Gilchrist and Lake City, Yoho ran a TV ad comparing career politicians to pigs in slop, promising new leadership and a repeal of "Obamacare." He recorded a YouTube video with a George W. Bush impersonator in which they bemoaned the Obama administration.

If results hold, Stearns will exit Congress after serving for 24 years. He made headlines as top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations subcommittee with investigations into solar-panel maker Solyndra and steroid use in pro wrestling.

 Also from ABC via Yahoo News:

 Thompson wins Wisconsin's GOP Senate primary

In election-weary Wisconsin, a familiar face has emerged victorious.

"Election-weary"? Just wait until the fascist left turns us into Belarus. Then we'll dreamily remember the good old days of plentiful elections.

Former governor, Health and Human Services Secretary, and momentary '08 presidential candidate Tommy Thompson won Wisconsin's Republican Senate primary, staving off three GOP rivals.

The result is a win for an established figure and a loss for tea partiers and free-market groups in Washington, D.C.

The usual suspects in conservative politics were divided sharply over the race. Former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann mounted a late charge reflected in polls, with backing from the Club for Growth, Tea Party Express, and Sen. Jim DeMint, whose Senate Conservatives Fund unveiled an ad for Neumann last week.

The three groups poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into the race over the last week, airing ads on TV and online and sending mailers in support of Neumann.

Throughout the race, polls showed Thompson and businessman Eric Hovde as the leaders, with Neumann surging late.

Hovde was endorsed by FreedomWorks, the small-government group headed by former House majority leader Dick Armey, and the Iowa-based free-market group American Future Fund, but he angered anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist by refusing to sign his pledge against voting for tax hikes.

Outside groups piled on Hovde, as Americans for Tax Reform ran phone calls against him, while the Club for Growth spent $339,000 and the 501(c)6 business group Americans for Job Security spent nearly $650,000 in the past two weeks airing ads that hit Hovde on taxes and sought to tie him to bailed out banks.

With 86 percent of precincts reporting, the Associated Press shows Thompson winning with 35 percent, Hovde in second with 30 percent, and Neumann trailing in third with 23 percent.

Neumann's loss is a blow to his Washington backers, but it would have been more severe had Hovde won, given that the Club for Growth reported spending $1.6 million to attack him.

Support for Paul Ryan and his budget was on full display in this race, as all three candidates supported the plan. Hovde aired a radio ad hailing its passage through the House, and Thompson forcefully promised to pass it if elected.