Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) lost his bid for a 7th term as Richard Mourdock (R) won the Republican primary for the Senate nomination, the Indianapolis Star reports.
"Mourdock originally was seen as a upstart candidate with little chance
of winning. But he came out of the gate with the backing of a majority
of state party leaders around the state, plus tea party activists who
coalesced around his candidacy. With no other challenger to Lugar, and
with the help of outside groups who targeted Lugar with millions of
dollars in negative ads and mailings, it became clear in the final days
of the campaign that Lugar would lose."
Mourdock advances to a general election match up against Rep. Joe Donnelly (D-IN), who was unopposed in the Democratic primary.