Voters to Specter & Co.: We Want New Blood

Yesterday's primary results show that incumbents from both parties are probably going to have to get comfortable with rejection. The results—including the ouster of Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania and the victory of Tea Party fave Rand Paul in Kentucky—signal a wave on anti-incumbent, anti-party establishment feeling that is likely to make Democratic and Republican leaders fret, the New York Times notes.

Republican leaders say the outcomes show their party is likely to make some major gains this fall, although the victory of Democrat Mark Critz in the Pennsylvania special election for John Murtha's former House seat was cause for concern. "If you can’t win a seat that is trending Republican in a year like this, then where is the wave?” asked Tom Davis, a former Republican congressman from Virginia, saying the party needs to figure out what went wrong.
(More Congressional incumbents stories.)