Winner declared in special House election in Georgia
(CNN) - Former Georgia state Rep. Tom Graves is headed to Washington.
Graves defeated fellow Republican Lee Hawkins in the special run-off election for Georgia's ninth congressional district, according to the Associated Press.
With 96 percent of precincts reporting, Graves led Hawkins 58 percent to 42 percent, according to an AP vote count.
The race was to fill the seat of former Rep. Nathan Deal, who stepped down earlier this year to run for the GOP gubernatorial nomination.
Neither Graves nor Hawkins, a former state senator, won 50 percent of the vote in an eight candidate field in last month's special election, forcing Tuesday's run-off of the top two vote-getters.
Graves was supported by local Tea Party groups, the anti-tax Club for Growth, and some leading conservative federal lawmakers. He will now serve out the remaining six and a half months of Deal's term.
When Graves is seated in Congress, the Republicans will have 178 members in the House, to the Democrats' 255. Two seats will remain open until November.
Graves won't have much time to celebrate. He'll have to run in Georgia's July 20 primary to win the his party's nomination so he can run for re-election in November's general election.
Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @psteinhausercnn
Primary update, 9:11 p.m. ET: South Carolina
GOP gubernatorial primary:
Nikki Haley, GOP – 110,415 47.7%
Gresham Barrett, GOP – 52,679 22.7%
Henry McMaster, GOP – 40,147 17.3%
Andre Bauer, GOP – 28,386 12.3%
57% of precincts reporting
*Vote totals compiled by the Associated Press
Primary update, 8:55 p.m. ET: South Carolina
GOP gubernatorial primary:
Nikki Haley, GOP – 89,606 46.7%
Gresham Barrett, GOP – 47,208 24.6%
Henry McMaster, GOP – 31,093 16.2%
Andre Bauer, GOP – 23,997 12.5%
44% of precincts reporting
*Vote totals compiled by the Associated Press
Primary update, 8:49 p.m. ET: South Carolina
GOP gubernatorial primary:
Nikki Haley, GOP – 67,508 46.0%
Gresham Barrett, GOP – 37,052 25.2%
Henry McMaster, GOP – 24,447 16.7%
Andre Bauer, GOP – 17,778 12.1%
36% of precincts reporting
*Vote totals compiled by the Associated Press
Primary update, 8:43 p.m. ET: South Carolina
GOP gubernatorial primary:
Nikki Haley, GOP – 60,060 47.2%
Gresham Barrett, GOP – 29,775 23.4%
Henry McMaster, GOP – 22,082 17.4%
Andre Bauer, GOP – 15,211 12.0%
33% of precincts reporting
*Vote totals compiled by the Associated Press
Primary update, 8:34 p.m. ET: South Carolina
GOP gubernatorial primary:
Nikki Haley, GOP – 52,200 46.4%
Gresham Barrett, GOP – 27,008 24.0%
Henry McMaster, GOP – 19,870 17.6%
Andre Bauer, GOP – 13,512 12.0%
28% of precincts reporting
*Vote totals compiled by the Associated Press
Primary update, 8:24 p.m. ET: Georgia
GOP primary, GA-09 congressional district:
Tom Graves – 13,454 58.7% ***AP projected winner
Lee Hawkins – 9,477 41.3%
67% of precincts reporting
*Vote totals compiled by the Associated Press
Primary update, 8:13 p.m. ET: South Carolina
GOP gubernatorial primary:
Nikki Haley, GOP – 11.860 42.1%
Gresham Barrett, GOP – 8,196 29.1%
Henry McMaster, GOP – 4,360 15.5%
Andre Bauer, GOP – 3,767 13.4%
13% of precincts reporting
*Vote totals compiled by the associated press
Alaska senator moves to strip EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gases
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/06/08/art.murkowski.0608.gi.jpg caption =" Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski vowed Tuesday to strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its authority to impose new limits on the emission of greenhouse gases."]Washington (CNN) - Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski vowed Tuesday to strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its authority to impose new limits on the emission of greenhouse gases.
The Senate on Thursday is expected vote on a "resolution of disapproval" by Murkowski that would prevent the EPA from further regulating air pollution from vehicles and industrial facilities.
Murkowski has the bipartisan support of 40 other senators, who may disagree with each other on the scientific impact of greenhouse gases, but who all agree that such regulations should be authorized by Congress, not an executive agency.
"The EPA intends to take control of climate policy, take it away from the Congress," Murkowski said at a press conference with eleven of her fellow Republican senators. "And I think those that are looking at this from the perspective of separate but equal branches of government look at this and say that this is absolutely unacceptable."
It is unclear whether there is enough support in the Senate to approve the measure, but its prospects in the House are slim. Regardless, the White House on Tuesday issued a veto threat if it makes it to President Obama's desk.
Primary update, 7:55 p.m. ET: South Carolina
GOP gubernatorial primary:
Nikki Haley, GOP – 3,349 43.2%
Gresham Barrett, GOP – 2,077 26.8%
Henry McMaster, GOP – 1,440 18.6%
Andre Bauer, GOP – 883 11.4%
1% of precincts reporting
*Vote totals compiled by the Associated Press
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