Kentucky 4th dist. GOP primary winner backed by Tea Party and small gov. Americans beat 2 GOP establishment candidates including one Bunning endorsed

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GOP establishment has another bad night.

5/22/12, "Tea party’s Massie wins Kentucky’s 4th District GOP congressional race," AP, courierpress.com

"With the political and financial clout of the tea party behind him, Republican Thomas Massie easily won the GOP nomination Tuesday to run for an open congressional seat in Kentucky’s 4th District.

A protege of U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, Massie beat two well-established Republicans, state Rep. Alecia Webb-Edgington and Boone County Judge-Executive Gary Moore, in a seven-candidate race.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Massie had 19,638 votes or 45 percent, to 12,501 votes for Webb-Edgington or 29 percent. Moore had 6,503 votes or 15 percent.

The race showed that the tea party movement remains strong in Kentucky two years after it sent Paul to the Senate. Paul endorsed Massie and was actively involved in the race, even appearing in a TV ad. And a Texas-based tea party group put more than $500,000 into the race.

“Some people want to make this race about the tea party,” Massie said after securing the victory. “Good campaigns and good government are about building coalitions. This is a coalition of the tea party, the liberty movement and grassroots Ronald Reagan Republicans. And we have one thing in common: We want less government, not more.”

Republican strategist Mike Karem of Louisville said Massie’s decisive victory sends a strong signal to Kentucky’s GOP establishment.

“The tea party is, in fact, a force to be reckoned with,” Karem said....

The Republican congressional nominee in the 4th District will be the overwhelming favorite to win the November general election. The seat, centered in the suburbs just south of Cincinnati, has been held by the GOP since 1967, except for a six-year stint between 1999 and 2005 when Democrat Ken Lucas served. The incumbent, U.S. Rep. Geoff Davis, is retiring.

The race drew attention and funds of outside political groups, including Texas-based Liberty For All, which invested $541,000 in TV advertising to push for Massie’s election....

Massie, 41, said the outside money wouldn’t have been necessary if the Republican establishment hadn’t gotten behind his two chief rivals. Davis and former U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning publicly endorsed Webb-Edgington, prompting Paul to come out for Massie, bringing with him the might of the national tea party movement."...

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