(AP) - In one of the night’s big surprises, two-term Sen. Blanche Lincoln bucked an anti-incumbent trend and narrowly fended off a challenge by liberal Lt. Gov. Bill Halter for the Democratic Senate nomination. Lincoln, a centrist, was forced into a runoff by Halter after neither captured a majority in last month’s primary.

Labor spent heavily against Lincoln, furious at her opposition to government-run health care and to a measure making it easier for unions to enlist members. Lincoln was buttressed by support from former President Bill Clinton, who also had been an Arkansas governor, and by positioning herself against out-of-state unions.

(AP) - An investment exceeding $70 million of her own money paid off as Republican billionaire Meg Whitman won the Republican nomination for governor. The most expensive primary in California history saw Whitman, former chief executive of eBay, spend more than $81 million total, overwhelming the $25 million spent by her defeated opponent, state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner.

Attorney General Jerry Brown, who was governor in the 1970s and 1980s, easily won the Democratic nomination for his old post.

Carly Fiorina, a former Hewlett Packard Co. chief executive, used a late splurge of her own money to win the Republican nomination for senator. She defeated former U.S. Rep. Tom Campbell and state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, a tea party favorite, after taking conservative stances against abortion and gay marriage. Fiorina will face Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer.

In Southern California’s 36th District, Democratic Rep. Jane Harman, who belongs to the Blue Dog group of conservative Democrats, fended off a challenge from Marcy Winograd, co-founder of the Los Angeles chapter of Progressive Democrats of America.

(AP) - In north Georgia, Tom Graves’ support from the Atlanta Tea Party Patriots helped power him to a victory over Lee Hawkins, another conservative, in a runoff to fill a vacant House seat in a heavily Republican district. Rep. Nathan Deal resigned to run for governor.

(AP) - Former Gov. Terry Branstad will try to get his old job back after besting two rivals and winning the Republican nomination for governor. Branstad, who served four terms as governor in the 1980s and 1990s, raised far more money than his competitors.

Democrats chose longtime party activist Roxanne Conlin to oppose Republican Sen. Charles Grassley this fall.

(AP) - Paul LePage, a career businessman who won tea party support, bested six rivals and captured the Republican nomination for governor. The Waterville mayor said his victory shows Maine residents want smaller government and more fiscal responsibility.

On the Democratic side, Senate President Libby Mitchell won her party’s gubernatorial nomination to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. John Baldacci. She defeated businesswoman Rosa Scarcelli, former Attorney General Steve Rowe and Pat McGowan, a former legislator who served in Baldacci’s Cabinet.

(AP) - Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg won his party’s nomination for a sixth term, overcoming one rival who was more conservative and another who challenged him from the left.

(AP) - Gov. Jim Gibbons became the latest incumbent to be turned out of office when Brian Sandoval won the Republican gubernatorial nomination. Gibbons became the state’s first sitting governor in a century to fail to win renomination by their party after a four-year term that featured a nasty public divorce and allegations of infidelity. Gibbons also led a state with a badly battered economy.

Republicans chose Sharron Angle, a tea party favorite, to try ousting Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, this fall. The former legislator and teacher won the nomination over former Nevada GOP Chairwoman Sue Lowden and Las Vegas businessman Danny Tarkanian, who said Angle’s views would be too extreme to attract votes from pivotal independents in November.

Reid’s son, Rory, won the Democratic nomination for governor.

(AP) - Former NFL player Jon Runyan, endorsed by tea party supporters, won the Republican nomination for New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District. All seven incumbent House members who faced challenges won their party’s renomination.

(AP) - Republican Gov. John Hoeven was unopposed in his party’s primary and will be the GOP candidate and heavy favorite for the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan. Republicans nominated Rick Berg to oppose veteran Democratic Rep. Earl Pomeroy for his post.

(AP) - Republican state Rep. Nikki Haley will face Rep. Gresham Barrett in a runoff election in two weeks for the GOP nomination to succeed term-limited Gov. Mark Sanford after a nasty race among four contenders. Haley, who won the endorsement of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, denied charges of infidelity and finished just shy of the majority needed to win the nomination outright. Barrett, a third-term House member, finished well behind Haley and was backed by former Vice President Dick Cheney.

State Sen. Vincent Sheheen won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. In a surprise, Alvin Greene, 32, an unemployed veteran who raised no money, won the Democratic nomination to oppose GOP Sen. Jim DeMint this fall.

Republican Rep. Bob Inglis, a six-term veteran, was forced into a June 22 runoff against conservative Trey Gowdy, a local prosecutor. And state Rep. Tim Scott, South Carolina’s only black state representative, also faces a runoff against Paul Thurmond, a Charleston County councilman and son of late Sen. Strom Thurmond, for an open congressional seat.

(AP) - Lt. Gov. Dennis Daugaard, as expected, finished atop a five-person field to win the Republican nomination to succeed Gov. Mike Rounds. Rounds, who had to leave office due to term limits, had endorsed Daugaard. Senate Democratic leader Scott Heidepriem was unopposed for his party’s nomination for governor.

(AP) - Republicans picked State Sen. Robert Hurt to challenge Democratic Rep. Tom Perriello for Virginia’s 5th Congressional District out of a field of seven GOP hopefuls. Conservative independent Jeff Clark will also be on the November ballot, complicating Republican chances of reclaiming the seat the freshman Democrat won narrowly two years ago.

Republican Rep. Rob Wittman of Virginia’s 1st Congressional District easily survived a challenge from Catherine Crabill, who had tea party backing.