Lieberman Loses in Democratic Primary

Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman points toward his bus as he left a New Haven, Conn., grocery-restaurant Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2006 where he got in some election day campaigning. A new poll showed the race tightening between Lieberman and anti-war challenger Ned Lamont with Lamont holding a slight lead. Lieberman has said he will run as an independent in the fall if defeated in the primary. (AP Photo/Bob Child) (Bob Child - AP)

Now attention turns to how party leaders will respond: Rally around Lamont? Pressure Lieberman to step down?

The party planned to formally present its ticket Wednesday at an event attended by Democratic Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd and top state officials. Party chairwoman Nancy DiNardo had supported Lieberman but said she would back Lamont in the general election if he won the primary.

Lieberman supporters must submit 7,500 signatures by Wednesday to place his name on the November ballot as an independent.

Officials said turnout Tuesday was up to 50 percent, when primaries usually only draw 25 percent of voters. Vote totals showed roughly 16,000 more ballots cast for the Democratic Senate primary than the party primary for governor, reflecting the extra attention to the Lieberman-Lamont battle.

In the lead up to the primary, 14,000 new Connecticut voters registered as Democrats, while another 14,000 state voters switched their registration from unaffiliated to Democrat to vote in the primary.

Jubilant Lamont supporters predicted victory in November.

"People are going to look back and say the Bush years started to end in Connecticut," said Avi Green, a volunteer from Boston. "The Republicans are going to look at tonight and realize there's blood in the water."

A week ago, polls showed Lieberman trailing Lamont by 13 percentage points. The latest polls showed the race tightening, with Lamont holding a slight lead of 51 percent to 45 percent over Lieberman among likely Democratic voters, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Monday.

On the final day of the race, Lieberman accused his opponent's supporters of hacking his campaign Web site and e-mail system. Lamont said he knew nothing about the accusations.

Lamont, the millionaire owner of a cable television company and former Greenwich selectman, will face Republican Alan Schlesinger in the general election.

In Georgia, McKinney, her state's first black congresswoman, lost to Hank Johnson, the black former commissioner of DeKalb County, 58 percent to 41 percent.

In the heavily Democratic district, the runoff winner is likely to win in the fall.

McKinney has long been controversial, once suggesting the Bush administration had advance knowledge of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. Her comments helped galvanize opposition and she lost her seat in 2002, but won it again two years ago.

In her latest brouhaha in March, she struck a Capitol Police officer who did not recognize her and tried to stop her from entering a House office building.

A grand jury in Washington declined to indict her, but she was forced to apologize before the House. She drew less than 50 percent of the vote in last month's primary.

In other primaries Tuesday:

_ In Michigan, Republican Rep. Joe Schwarz, a moderate who supports abortion rights, lost to conservative Tim Walberg, a former state lawmaker. The race drew more than $1 million from outside groups; Schwarz has received support from President Bush and Arizona Sen. John McCain.

_ In Colorado, two open congressional seats have drawn crowds of candidates.

_ Missouri Republican Sen. Jim Talent and Democratic challenger Claire McCaskill, the state auditor, won their party's primaries.