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Voters in Wisconsin yesterday chose Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett to run against incumbent Governor Scott Walker in the June 5th gubernatorial recall election. Barrett easily beat his opponents, winning 56 out of 72 Wisconsin counties. The embattled Governor Walker, who in facing a recall, has to fight to keep his job, easily beat his GOP opponent in yesterday’s primary, but fell short of garnering as many votes overall compared to the combined Democratic vote. On June 5th, it is assumed that most if not all those who voted in the Democratic Primary, will vote for Barrett to replace Walker.

In Indiana, veteran GOP Senator Dick Lugar lost his reelection bid by a landslide. He was beaten by Richard Mourdock, whom the Christian Science Monitor referred to as a “Harley-riding, tea party hardliner.” Lugar’s loss is being explained in part by a complacency he developed toward his home base, after six terms as a veteran Senator. However, it is also an indicator of the re-emergence of the Tea Party – even though Lugar outspent Mourdock by a 3-1 margin, Mourdock was backed by the NRA, and such right-wing organizations as Freedom Works, and the Club for Growth. Senator Lugar was known for reaching across the partisan aisle to compromise with Democrats particularly on foreign policy, as well as the DREAM Act.

Meanwhile, voters in North Carolina passed a constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage, in a pre-emptive bid to ward off legal challenges to their existing marriage ban. Tami Fitzgerald, chairwoman of the group backing the measure, justified the vote saying, “the point… is …that you don’t rewrite the nature of God’s design for marriage based on the demands of a group of adults.”

And, in West Virginia, Presidential candidate Mitt Romney easily won his primary election, with nearly 70% in a field of five candidates. Interestingly, President Obama faced a Democratic challenger in West Virginia by an inmate serving 17.5 years for extortion – the President won 59% – 41%. Romney, who is considered the de facto Republican nominee, also won primaries in both Indiana and North Carolina.

GUEST: John Nichols, associate editor of the Capitol Times in Madison, Wisconsin and a correspondent for The Nation magazine, contributing writer for The Progressive, co-founder of Free Press, author of many books including his latest called Uprising: How Wisconsin Renewed the Politics of Protest, from Madison to Wall Street