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Senator John McCain s daughter said on Sunday that Senate nominee Christine O Donnell of Delaware, a Tea Party favorite, is seen as a nut job.

Delaware Republican Senate nominee Christine O'Donnell on Sunday chalked up her experimentation in sorcery to being a teenager, saying there's no magical explanation to her 1999 confession that she "dabbled into witchcraft."

Sarah Palin may have a magic touch with candidates she endorses, but nearly half of American voters aren't impressed by the former Republican vice presidential candidate.

A win certified Wednesday in the Senate primary in New Hampshire for a candidate backed by the Republican establishment helped offset earlier primary election victories in Delaware and New York by Tea Party-backed insurgents. In New Hampshire, former attorney general Kelly Ayotte was named the winner in the Republican primary for Senate, marking a narrow victory over conservative lawyer Ovide Lamontagne, who campaigned with the support of Tea Party activists. Ayotte had the support of the Republican Party and former Alaska governorSarah Palin in her bid for the seat held by retiring GOP Sen. Judd Gregg. Ayotte will face off in November against Rep. Paul Hodes, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Senator Lisa Murkowski conceded in her Republican primary race to Joe Miller, a lawyer from Fairbanks backed by Tea Party activists and Sarah Palin.

John McCain sailed to nomination for a fifth Senate term Tuesday over an Arizona challenger with tea party support, while big-spending political novice Rick Scott beat an insider in Florida's Republican gubernatorial primary as voters split on the merits of establishment candidates vs. outsiders.

Several prominent black Republicans came to the support of the "Tea Party," accused by the NAACP of allowing "racist factions" to persist.

Tuesday's primary results provide fresh evidence of the amorphous network's struggle to convert activist anger and energy into winning results.

The conservative Tea Party movement in the US blocks a Republican senator from Utah in his re-election bid. Sen Bennett came third at a Republican Party convention in Salt Lake City.

Ahead of primaries, loose network of conservatives tries to overcome perceptions of movement.