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Voters in several states including California head to polls today to vote for their party’s nominations and ballot initiatives as primary season is in full swing. Results from earlier elections reveal that incumbents are no longer safe from challenges from both sides of the political spectrum. In May, Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter lost his seat to Joe Sestak in the Democratic Primary. And in Kentucky, Rand Paul won an open Republican nomination for a Senate seat with heavy support from the Tea Party. Today in Arkansas, Senator Blanche Lincoln faces a runoff against Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter to keep her seat. And, in Nevada, Republican candidates hoping to win Harry Reid’s seat later this year are facing off fiercely with Tea Party-supported Sharron Angle leading the field. In South Carolina, hoping to fill disgraced Governor Mark Sanford’s seat, an ugly battle has broken out over front-runner Nikki Haley who was called a “rag-head” by her opponent’s supporter on an internet radio program recently. Haley is the daughter of Indian immigrants and has been endorsed by the Tea Party and Sarah Palin. And in California, Carly Fiorina, former HP CEO is poised to win the Republican party’s nomination for Senator Barbara Boxer’s seat. Additionally, Democrat Jane Harman, an incumbent representing California’s 36th District is facing a stiff challenge from progressive activist Marcy Winograd.

GUESTS: Marcy Winograd, running for the Democratic Party’s nomination to represent California’s 36th district in the House of Representatives, John Nichols, political writer for the Nation Magazine and co-founder of Free Press, the nation’s media-reform network.

Find out about your polling place at www.lavote.net. Marcy Winograd’s website is winograd4congress.com.