chamber of commerce and karen handel was able to capitalize on very strong support from sarah palin and party groups. >> when you look at this math there's a contested primary you have to be thinking to yourself, okay, what does turnout look li like? i imagine you're up in the fall as your fellow members in the legislature. the what democrats will be coming out to georgia? what number of them, what percentage do you need to come out for someone like michelle nunn or perhaps jason carter or anyone else to have a shot statewide or even in con 0 tested races in the state legislature? >> i think what we need is the highest turnout we can generate which is certainly 52% of the electorate is democratic, that's fantastic. i don't think we need a plurality of democrats to win. i think the republican extremism will convert a number of moderate leaning republicans in michelle's favor. i think on top of that, you have excitement at the top of the ticket with michelle nunn, with jason carter, with contested races where we're going to run really strong candidates. what you're going to find is renewe

>> karen handel is an interesting candidate.alin has endorsed her but is she a tea party candidate? what is interesting for her is what differentiates her from everyone is she's the only woman in the primary candidate. a week ago, if you were to talk to people who knew the race, followed the race, they would have thought that karen handel would come in third. >> you could wind up in this race with two establishment candidates or tea party versus establishment. so there's going to be a run off one way or the other. >> dana, go ahead. >> well, or you could end up with a democratic senator. >> right. >> taking the seat because of all of the fighting that you all are talking about and that is certainly the state that democrats have their eye on to try to beat back the republican -- what we expect to be republican gains that could lead them to get the majority, that is the state and we're hoping that this fighting against them helps. >> and they are hoping that one of the more fringe candidates. >> sure. yeah. >> let's turn to oregon

now karen handel is making a late push.ct in a couple of those counties karen handel is out pacing jack kingston of 3-1. if she continues to do well she could close the gap. she's about six points behind right now. are there enough votes there? that's the big question that we don't know the answer to. looking at the secretary of state's website it doesn't break it down precinct by precinct. we don't know how much of the vote is out there. if karen handel runs into second place and makes to it the runoff on the 22nd of july poses some problems for her campaign. even though she's endorsed by sarah palin and erjiic ericson she's had a problem raising money. david perdue has no problem of raising money. she could be in a great disadvantage when it comes to flooding air waves with those all-important ads she has to run. so jack kingston probably better positioned to run head-to-head against david perdue but when it comes to an election sometimes you got to reach deep and you pull up and do what you have to do to get the money. t

i am fascinated by karen handel. if she makes a run, backed by sarah palin, ericson, the blogger, she a conservative but also a woman. if she emerging as the republican nominee against nunn, a fascinating dynamic to watch as we talk about the sort of democratic attacks on the women, karen handel says she'll nu neutralize that because she's a woman. a candidate tough to beat in the fall. as dana reported, tough for any democrat in the obama era to win in the south, carol. >> speaking about the primary, the established republican now in the lead and waiting to see the results with karen handel, the tea party candidate, and backed by sarah palin. many thanks to you, peter. >>> keep talking about the losses the tea party will suffer. that could be the sign of the death of the tea party. two words for you n. that would be rand paul. tea party darling tied with jeb bush for the leading candidate for president. talk about that. commentator and columnist for "the blaze," and a political strategist. so what the tea party may

if karen handel can slip through and beat him, that's a victory for the tea party.f kingston and purdue get in the runoff, a win for the so-called establishment. >> i was having dinner and some folks were talking about the candidate who was poised to win the primary. a woman by the name of monica wehby. she sounds like a formidable person, a pediatric neurosurgeon, telegenic, pretty good in front of a microphone. her campaign is absolutely imploding. a tweet from a general assignment reporter with an affiliate said "gop senate candidate wehby appears to have gone underground. this is a nearly unprecedented implosion happening." >> monica wehby's situation in oregon is really indicative of how the narrative of this primary cycle has some fault lines and has some problems because monica wehby was this doctor, republican woman who was supposed to represent the establishment, had a backing of a lot people close to the nrsc running against jason conger, who is endorsed by rick santorum and has a fiery temperament. as we see with the reports, monica wehby is having proble

with karen handel, the high school graduate, making a big deal out of that, picking up a good part of the tea party ferver. we're writing two leads to the story tonight, one is that david perdue, businessman and jack kingston are in the runoff in which case you have a fairly atra traditional race and the tea party is shut out because kingston supported the chamber of commerce and david perdue running as an outsider but more a centrist insider. the own scenario. >> that is striking because it seems all are branding themself as outsiders saying we hate washington, we're going to clean things up and handel is a real fire brand in terms of her stances on issues. what do you think georgia's appetite for outsiders is beyond the rhetoric? >> the outsider does appeal to tea party contingents on the right and more independent centrists toward the middle. your gop establishment is pret darn worried that they are going to see their -- this thing that they built over the last ten years since republicans took over in 2002, they are starting to see it crumble. that they don't like that. >> we'll se

karen handel at 16%. again, less than a fifth of the vote is in at this point. heading into tonight's polling -- tonight's voting david perdue had been leading in the polls. what happens here is if the -- there will be a run-off if nobody clears 50% of the vote and that run-off will happen in july. in terms of the general election and who will win that senate seat in the end the polling ahead of tonight's primary showed the democrat michelle nunn polling even or ahead of every single one of the republican potential candidates who is in that primary. that, of course, is hypothetical polling. the republicans had seven people in the running, those poll numbers may shift one way or the other once the picture gets more clear. the again, less than a fifth of the vote in so far in georgia and that is going to be a f fascinating one to watch. the big, wide open seat in georgia, there is going to be a run-off. and it's all very exciting. what's exciting, though, rate now about georgia, is that there has been legitimate suspense both in terms of tonight's primary and look

as you see here, and a reminder of how many times runoff politics works, karen handel, who's also running and third in some of these polls, she actually came out on top in 2010 and she was at the time the only woman in the race. she raised significantly less money at the time than her three other opponents but she was able to sort of win by campaigning against the good ole boys and she took advantage of their ethical trouble, so she got that 34%. diehl narrowly was second. there was a time we weren't sure he was going to make the runoff. he managed to pull off a narrow win as handel stalled. he barely won, 3,000 votes. so tonight as the returns come in, what do you want to watch for? the biggest place to watch for is the wagon wheel of counties around atlanta. this is where most of the republican primary vote is. but particularly the one i would focus on is suburban cobb county. it's a republican strong hold there northwest of atlanta. in 2010 handel beat her opponents 2-1. also keep your eyes on gwyneth county which was a bellwether county in 2010. the exact order of finish is what gwinn

karen handell is in the mix. for a right to face democrat michelle nunn. in pennsylvania new coming tom wolf beat allyson schwartz, a sitting member of the house of representatives, to take on tom corbett in november. in arkansas, mark prior won the primary as the conservative representative, tom cotton, they'll go head to head in a race that could determine who owns the senate. tea party-backed republicans are expected to fall short in races for the senate and congress. have you to say it's been a tough day for tea party candidates and is shaping up to get worse before it's over. >> mike viqueira at the white house. thank you. >> although it's only the primaries, a lot of money has been spent on campaigns. david shuster is with us in new york with more on that. >> according to the latest data on the financing of federal elections, spending by groups not required to disclose don years is going though the roof. the groups have become an increasingly attractive place for individuals and corporations to influence elections. all you have to do is look at spend

the karen handel against those opponents would have been equally intriguing to watch because she had the tea party element and no holds barred against her opponent. there is a dicey battle between karen hand "discovery" el and perdue. but this will be interesting to watch. >> there were kinds of people rooting or supporting them. not much difference. should we expect them to distinguish themselves or do you think it will be tone and style? >> i think most of it will it will be rhetorical in terms of tone and style. david perdue is running as a businessman with experience, an outsider who built a business an he has support in the form of sonny perdue and jack kingston has been in congress for years. he's also -- it's hard for him to run as about outside ier because of that. he is running on his experience, as well. >> poll ing has shown, at least heading in to today, polling showed michelle nunn doing well against all of the seven republicans who jumped in to the primary. of course, that's hypothetical. you are asked to put her against one after the other seven of them, one after anoth

david perdue and karen handel. the top two will face michelle nun, the daughter of sam nunn. and in idaho, another sitting member of congress is expected to beat the tea party backed candidate. mike simpson over brian smith. for governor, arkansas and org on for senate races, but overall, john, it's expected to be a bad day for tea party backed candidates. >> explain that, mike. >> we have seen in the last several cycles, republicans, and this is a midterm election, where only the hard corp voters are expected to come out and carry the day, and especially in the primary. the fact that the tea party are losing is significant, and suggests that the movement has peaked, at least for the timing, and that's partly the result of two phenomenons, the republicans are becoming more pragmatic, and delaware, christine i'm not a witch o'donnell beat the gop establishment and went on to be humiliated and went on to lose the seat for republicans. you could argue that the republicans already control the senate, and all they need is a net gain of six this time around to gain control. and the

then the three cane who are backed up by the tea party, karen handel, congressman phil gingrey and pauln running behind. who comes out as the victor has bragging rights because it looks like it will be perdue and kingston. people are expecting a bruising battle. the two have been going after each other in this early primary and go after each other leading up to the 22nd. they want to battle michele nunn who looks like she's poised to do very well. this is a very important race for the republican party. they want the right candidate, somebody that they make sure they keep the seat in the republican column and not like has happened before in the republican party lose something that should have bean sure thing. this is a very important race. >> so interesting. john, thank you. >>> also tonight a middle school cancels its special honors night for students. but after days of controversy it makes a stunning decision. trace gallagher has this unbelievable story. somebody's feelings may have been hurt. a new memo surfacing that could prove embarrassing to this administration. we'll talk about b

and rick santorum endorsed secretary of state karen handel, who has been in a close third for that one runoff spot. s in there's a last-minute surprise, it looks like the two establishment candidates, businessman david perdue and congressman jack kingston will face off in a runoff. a lot of people are saying this is turning into georgia's romney versus newt with perdue as romney and kingston as newt. >> and in idaho, congressman mike simpson is fighting off a challenge by tea party candidate michael smith. smith has hammered him with ads calling him a liberal and accusing him of scheming to give amnesty to illegal aliens. the club for growth hasn't run a single ad in this race since april. it's not good news for the treat party groups looking for another victory. there's still a fight going on for idaho's top job. for the governor, who first ran on a pledge to tell the feds to butt out of the state is facing a challenge from the right. if you need evidence that otter is a little worried about his job, exhibit a is this week's wild idaho governor's debate that's gone viral. otter report

her name is karen handel rupping in part on the basis of that disastrous decision she made at komen.ot endorsements from rick santorum and sarah palin but heading into tomorrow's voting, jack kingston has an endorsement from a pop fox news channel host named sean hannity and yet another one of the contenders david perdue, businessman, cousin of the last governor also named purdue, he has an endorsement from herman cain because, yes, one of the things that happens now in our country people seek out and get the endorsement of herman when they're running for the united states senate but with this split ticket, right, with three different candidates in this primary tomorrow endorsed by these three different conservative brands on legs, what's going to happen tomorrow in georgia? there's seven people in that primary, three of them gave up house seats to run. five considered to be contenders. in georgia tomorrow it is that rarest of all things in our politics these days. it is a legitimately open question as to what is going to happen in that primary. turnout is expected to be squat frankl

will come down to 20-year congressman jack kingston, david perdue, and former secretary of state karen handel. meanwhile michelle nun is a shoe in her primary. but many wonder how she'll deal with the issue of obamacare. i got o a chance to talk to her on that issue. here's my question and her full response. >> whoever the republican is that faces you in november, they're going to run against you on obamacare. are you going to run affirmatively on the affordable care act? >> i'm going to say we actually need to put people ahead of politics and focus on what do we need to do to expand medicaid and to actually build upon the things that are working and change the things that aren't in terms of health care. >> okay. for more on how things are shaping up in the polls in georgia, we go to msnbc politics reporter benji who's in atlanta. you were at a rally last night for perdue, what's the mood there? >> they are very excited pretty much across the board every poll for about a month, two months has put purdue consistently in the lead. but only about 25% of the vote consistently. people are excited.

karen handel and monica webby in oregon, are they able to get through? does that help the republicans with gender gap problems? that's something to watch there. the other part of today features all of very familiar names to you and i, andrea, both old enough to have covered their fathers and grandfathers, mark pryor and david pryor. when i started it was david pryor and jason carter, grandson of jimmy and michelle nunn, daughter of sam, allison grimes, that's just today. we don't talk about moon landrieu's daughter or nick beg ich's on. frankly a path for the democrats to save their senate. >> this is such an interesting path for the democrats, but they still have some challenges to overcome. jonathan martin, are the democrats hurting precisely because of the tea party weakness that some of those tea party candidates would have been weaker candidates for the republicans if they won or do win and we know what happened last circumstance cycle with those candidates make a difference and holding onto the senate. >> that's the story in georgia, it is who is n

then followed by either congressman crack kingston or karen handel. as you mentioned, you would have a runoff if no one gets 50%. so it's important who ends up finishing second because then you will he said up having a top two contest. >> in idaho, again, another example of where the gop establishment facing off with the tea party. and the ramifications of that race. >> it's possible the tea party goes 0 for 3 in tomorrow's contest if mike simpson holds on pull all indications are he's probably the favorite. tea party did have a victory in the nebraska senate contest. ben sasse won. there were other establishment people operating sasse. tea party chair said one of theirs was able to win, but all of that will be erased if the tea party goes 0 for 3 tomorrow. >> all right. we'll see you tomorrow on a mini super tuesday. thanks. >>> breaking news, we're just learning new york racing association will allow california chrome to wear a nasal strip during the belmont stakes. so this issue came up the last few days. it improves the air flow for the horse. and

can jack kingston, whose hat not shied away from this role in congress, is battling karen handel who has been endorsed by sarah palin. if karen can beat kingston that's a victory for the tea party but if kingston purdue get into a runoff that's a win for the so-called establishment. >> a month ago i was having dip with folks from oregon and hey were talking about the candidate poised to win, monica loy. she is pro choice, pediatric neurosurgeon, pretty good in front of the microphone. her campaign is absolutely imploding. this is a tweet, a reporter with the nbc affiliate. monica webby appears to have gone underground. campaign is not returning calls no public appearances, this is unprecedented implosion happening in oregon right now. >> monica webby's situation in oregon is indicative of how the narrative of this primary cycle has some fall lines and problems, because monica webby was a doctor, a republican woman who was supposed to represent the establishment, had the backing of a lot of people, running against the state representative who has endorsed by rick santorum, has a fiery

the karen handel against those opponents would have been equally intriguing to watch because she had the tea party element and no holds barred against her opponent. there is a dicey battle between karen hand "discoverel and perd. but this will be interesting to watch. >> there were kinds of people rooting or supporting them. not much difference. should we expect them to distinguish themselves or do you think it will be tone and style? >> i think most of it will it will be rhetorical in terms of tone and style. david perdue is running as a businessman with experience, an outsider who built a business an he has support in the form of sonny perdue and jack kingston has been in congress for years. he's also -- it's hard for him to run as about outside ier because of that. he is running on his experience, as well. >> poll ing has shown, at least heading in to today, polling showed michelle nunn doing well against all of the seven republicans who jumped in to the primary. of course, that's hypothetical. you are asked to put her against one after the other seven of them, one after another an

former secretary of state karen handel is trying to bump one of them out to see if she can sneak into the runoff and she's attacking perdue after he suggested last weeks that spending cuts alone wouldn't solve the nation's debt crisis. >> he's never voted in a regular republican primary. he's flip flopped on issues that are key to republican voters' common core bailouts, repealing dodd-frank, and now we found out just earlier this week that he seems to be a little bit soft when it comes to not raising taxes. >> i use the word revenue and revenue is a code word for tax increase evidently in politics. so the point i've been making for over a year is that we've got to get the economy growing that will increase the tax base and that will help solve this debt crisis. >> the national narrative may be this is an establishment versus tea party race but none of of the candidates in georgia are eager to distance themselves from the party label. here what's they told kasie hunt. >> do you consider yourself a member of the tea party? >> tell me what that is. i have many ideals we agree on. >> som

how about karen handel who is trying to get into the runoff, but it is almost as good if not better than potentially the democratic lay of the land is going to be there on women. another storyline, of course sh, as i told you about are the dynasties and today, mark pryor, and jason carter, and grandson of jimmy carter, and daughter of sam nunn, and i told you about alison grimes there, and the other story that is out there is in pennsylvania. that has to do with all of the republican governors that won e re-election in 2011 in the blue or the purple states and the electorate is going to decide who tom corbett is going to face. he is a republican governor struggling to win re-election this time, and he is going to face democrat tom wolf, and not the guy in the white suit, the best selling author, but a businessman and think about it, ohio, wisconsin, michigan, and florida also with the republican governors and so it going to be another storyline of the entire cycle, tamron. >> and quickly, chuck, i want to fast forward to the midterms and this politico report saying that some democrats ar

he's likely to make the runoff and so is jack kingston but karen handel endorsed by sarah palin, she'sn the final week. for the second runoff spot it's going to come down to kingston versus handel. >> a lot of those folks are reluckant in interviews we did to embrace this tea party monday kerr. it doesn't appear that has the same strategic influence it may have been had not too long ago. >> we're seeing an evolution within the republican party. being a so-called tea party candidate, it's unclear what that actually means these days. so many candidates within the party are adhering to the same ideology, they are not breaking in any kind of issue like abortion or government spending or taxes. with the tea party monicker means, a question of style or temperament, with purdue, more the establishment in his makeup, seen as almost as anti-tea party candidate, but when you look at the issues he's on the same page as he is with handel and kingston. it's about what kind of candidate they want. >> let's switch gears to a person who lived in the pretty white house behind you and never xapz the hea

it could be jack kingston, david perdue, or karen handel. each of them are going to be courting that tea party base, the voters, the base of conservative base voters. they are going to dominate that runoff. and all the while, michelle nunn, the democratic candidate does not really have much opposition. she's probably going to escape a runoff and be sitting pretty come july when the republican candidates could be battered badly. >> let's talk about that and stay right there in the peach state. michelle nunn basically allowed all this time to define herself. she's put these commercials where she doesn't even call herself a democrat. just this pragmatic person who wants to get things done. talks about her service for george h.w. bush. from your sources at the nrsc, how are they sweating nunn's candidacy and this could be a worry for them if this primary turns into a blood bath. >> the interesting thing is michelle nunn has only been subjected to $300,000 worth of attack ads from conservative groups and republican candidates while they've spent

the pac followed behind by jack kingston, a solid conservative with moderate appeal as well as karen handel a darling of the tea party express and then congressman phil gingre and paul broun. both of them following tea parties as well. david purdue is running as the outside candidate. only one of the top five who hasn't held elected office previously. he said is he a unifying candidate. running on broad appeal. here is what he told me. if we focus on what we disagree on. we have hard time going up against anybody this fall. what they're looking at out in the state right now, someone who can lead common analogies across the republican party reasonable solutions to bring democrats across to vote for reasonable things to get this economy moving to solve this debt crisis. >> it's likely that david purdue will get the most of the vote today and the turnout has been very light. you don't know which way it's going to break and could face karen kingston or hand leon. no one expected to brake that auto% barrier in georgia tonight. couple other big races we are watching kentucky where mitch mcconnell

but will we condone karen handel's vote for youth pride that promotes teenage moment homosexuality?r david perdue championing common core with obama, taking education decisions away from parents? or jack kingston siding with liberals, surrendering to obamacare. >> i mean, that's got to burn you up if you vote for repeal 40 times and then they still say you surrendered. >> and jack kingston is not considered the front-runner right now as you mentioned, david perdue's ahead of him, who's got sort of a mitt romney problem where he's run these business that's have lost like 8,000 jobs. but in this race those three candidates are considered the establishment. there are actually people even further to the right. you've got paul brown who said that evolution is a lie straight from the pit of hell. that's one of our also rans. then of course you also played phil gingrey who said that todd akin's legitimate rape comments, they might not be so far off. so there are people actually far to the right of kingston. so his problem now is he's looked at as the establishment because he's an elected o

saxby but purdue, kingston, and former karen handel tate is now engaged in the own divisive battle. is problem for republicans this is only round one. the gop nominee almost certainly determined on tuesday as no candidate is likely to required 50% threshold to move on to the general election. instead, the top two candidates it out for another nine weeks. it figures to be one long hot in georgia. that's from kaitlyn huey burns clear politics. live coverage tomorrow night live on our companion network, c-span 2. > in a moment, a conversation on combatting rain and sexual assaults on college campuses. victims r from formern and advocacy group ms. chaired by ble, senator claire mccaskell, is the first of several discussions on this topic. we'll also hear about the cleary ct and the campus sexual violence elimination act which went into effect in 2012. >> we're all here. convene our first of three round tables on the serious problem of sexual on college campuses. they will occur every six weeks. today we're going to talk about you about d talk to the challenges that the rules and regulat

. >> that's why i was surprised this week that karen handel didn't make it in georgia because she hadpublican base saying if you're tired about hearing about the war on women, nominate me. >> and palin endorsed her too. >> i was surprised she did not make that. there's a lot of other factors, as there were in pennsylvania, as there always are. i want to thank former governor of massachusetts, jane swift, for taking the time and joining us this morning. what do we know now that we didn't know last week? our answers right after this. oduces up here creates something else as well: jobs all over america. engineering and innovation jobs. advanced safety systems & technology. shipping and manufacturing. across the united states, bp supports more than a quarter million jobs. when we set up operation in one part of the country, people in other parts go to work. that's not a coincidence. it's one more part of our commitment to america. scotts wraps each seed in a brilliant water smart plus coating, that feeds, protects, and holds in moisture to make growing thicker, healthier grass easier. now

so you could go with karen handel, and she is gone to the right on a lot of issues.including immigration. georgia has never elected a senate, and its. is been hard for women to win statewide office here. host: as you said, the candidate is michelle nunn. who is she? guest: she is the daughter of sam nunn, georgia senator, former chairman of the arms services committee. maryland, but in she has lived down here in atlanta for a good 20 years i believe. ,he still has property in perry georgia, which is where the nunnamily is from -- the family is from. she is head of the points of light foundation, which she has beenand she was head of the pois of light foundation for george w. bush. host: does she have a chance? guest: she has a chance. she will not be an odds-on favorite, not even and even -odds favorite, but she has a chance. the state is changing demographically, but we do not know how fast. host: how is it changing demographically? guest: 10 years ago, 15 years ago, you had whites making up 68% of the voting population. now they have dipped below 60%. that is likel

i think karen handel could make the run.tories this year is republicans look like they're getting a pretty good field in the general elections. but also younger in many cases. younger candidates who are well qualified aren't going to make foolish mistax either. you see them coming together in most of these states. >> you don't see any of these candidates trying to redefine rape in the general election. >> that would be nice not to have that. it'd be nice to go a whole six months without that. >> you know, gingrey did it, but it doesn't look like he's going to get it. >> thank you. >>> still ahead on "morning joe," white house senior adviser valerie jarrett and philadelphia mayor michael nutter. and later this hour, fast company was named magazine of the year by the national magazine awards. editor bob safan is here. and someone who is not on that list, roger bennett. >> he should be. >> no. he'll be here with the football frenzy. >>> up next, as secretary eric shinseki prepares to testify about the coverups at the va, is the

and gaining momentum is karen handel. she's been endorsed by the tea party express and sarah palin.e congressman paul broun and phil gingrey also in, it's a free for all. >> "ed shoit's hard to believe . opponents have been in office for 60 years. >> voted for debt ceiling increases, bridge to nowhere. >> she's run five times for five offices. >> david perdue is actually part of the establishment as much as anybody. >> reporter: contrary to conventional wisdom, it's not necessarily establishment versus tea party do you consider yourself a part of the tea party? >> tell me what that is. >> somebody who -- i support so much of the tea party values. >> i get a little frustrated with all of the labels out there. i guess i suppose i would be tea party. >> reporter: it will likely head to a runoff which means eight more weeks of in-fighting. that's all good news for michelle nunn. >> when i look at the republican party, i see a race to extremes and more of what is happening already in washington. the dysfunction and the polarization. >> caskay kasie, great job. i love how nunn said it's i