Indiana's Lugar out, N.C. bans gay marriage

WASHINGTON -- Six-term Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar lost a bitter challenge from the right flank of his own Republican Party last night, his nearly four-decade career in the Senate ended by a tea party-backed GOP foe.

"I have no regrets about running for re-election. Even if doing so can be a very daunting task," Lugar, 80, said as he conceded to state Treasurer Richard Mourdock.

Conservatives gained another victory yesterday as North Carolina voters approved a constitutional amendment defining marriage solely as a union between a man and a woman, making it the 30th state to adopt such a ban.

In Wisconsin, Democrats picked a nominee, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, to challenge Republican Gov. Scott Walker in a June recall election. Walker won the GOP primary Tuesday.

Those contests overshadowed Mitt Romney's unstoppable progress toward the GOP presidential nomination. Romney won presidential primaries in Indiana, North Carolina and West Virginia, drawing close to the 1,144 delegates he needs to clinch the nomination.

In the biggest race of the night, Lugar lost to Mourdock, who will face Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly in the general election. Republicans need to gain four seats to take control of the U.S. Senate, and a Lugar loss "gives Democrats a pickup opportunity," said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).

Lugar ruled out running as an independent. "This is it," he said with voting still under way.

Playing out in a conservative state, the race illustrated the electorate's animosity toward many incumbents and anyone with deep ties to Washington. That was clear when Lugar, who hasn't faced questions about his residency in decades, found himself on the defensive over whether he lived in Indiana or northern Virginia. Lugar also was cast as too moderate for the conservative GOP in Indiana, and he took heat for his work with Democrats on issues such as nuclear nonproliferation, underscoring deep polarization in the country as well as a split in the GOP between the establishment wing and the insurgent tea party.

In a statement, President Barack Obama praised his former Senate colleague as someone "who was often willing to reach across the aisle and get things done."