3rd-oldest senator wins nomination for 5th term

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - Sen. Frank Lautenberg, the chamber's third-oldest member at 84, easily won nomination for a new term Tuesday over a challenger who sought to make an issue of his age.

Lautenberg defeated Democratic Rep. Rob Andrews as voters in seven states picked congressional candidates for the fall, and residents of one South Dakota county voted to allow construction of the nation's first new oil refinery in more than 30 years.

In New Mexico, Republican U.S. Rep. Steven Pearce beat U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson in a close race for the GOP nomination to replace Sen. Pete Domenici, who is retiring because of a degenerative brain disease. Pearce next faces Democratic Rep. Tom Udall, who was unopposed in his primary for the seat.

Andrews, a 50-year-old lawmaker who has served in the House since 1990, repeatedly reminded voters that Lautenberg would be nearly 91 by the end of a fifth term. He recalled in one television ad how Lautenberg himself raised the age issue when campaigning in 1982 against Rep. Millicent Fenwick, who was 72.

"It's hard when your own words come back to haunt you, isn't it?" the ad asked.

Lautenberg insisted he was criticizing Fenwick's age relative to her political experience.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Lautenberg had 59 percent of the vote, compared with 35 percent for Andrews. A third Democrat, Morristown Mayor Donald Cresitello, got 6 percent.

In a debate last week, Andrews denied that Lautenberg's years were the issue.

"I think that he's not effective in the U.S. Senate," Andrews said. "I think it's his level of commitment for the next six years."

After his victory, Lautenberg said voters weren't looking at his age. "They don't care how old I am."

He added: "If you count on vigor, vitality and effectiveness, I think I rank pretty high."

Lautenberg is the third-oldest senator on Capitol Hill. Democrat Robert Byrd of West Virginia is 90, and Republican Ted Stevens of Alaska is two months older than Lautenberg. He will compete in November against former U.S. Rep. Dick Zimmer, who prevailed over a state senator and a college business professor in a three-way GOP primary.

Meanwhile, residents of Union County, S.D., voted 58 percent to 42 percent to endorse their county commission's rezoning of almost 3,300 acres for an oil refinery proposed by a Texas-based company called Hyperion Resources, which promoted the $10 billion facility as a step toward energy independence.

In other races across the nation:

_In California, voters passed some limits on government home seizures but rejected sweeping changes to property rights laws. Residents approved Proposition 99 and defeated Proposition 98, which were both intended to limit government's authority to force Californians to sell their homes for private development projects such as shopping malls, hotels and new housing.

Proposition 98 would have added protections for businesses and farms and phased out rent control. Its defeat was a victory for the California League of Cities and environmentalists who placed the narrower Proposition 99 on the ballot as an alternative.

Proposition 98 arose from a national backlash to a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005, when the court found that a Connecticut redevelopment authority had the right to seize private property for hotels, shopping centers and other private developments. That decision marked a departure from the traditional use of eminent domain, which is typically used when governments build roads, schools or other public projects.

_In Sacramento, former NBA All-Star Kevin Johnson forced a runoff election for mayor against the two-term incumbent. With 374 of 378 precincts reporting, Johnson was leading incumbent Heather Fargo 47 percent to 40 percent. Five lesser-known challengers split the rest of the vote. The candidates needed more than 50 percent to win the contest outright. Fargo's election night party turned tragic when a massive tree branch crashed down and sent a supporter to the hospital.

_Voters in Mendocino County, north of the Bay Area, agreed to repeal a groundbreaking law that allowed residents to grow up to 25 marijuana plants for medical or recreational use.

_California's most heated congressional campaign saw state Sen. Tom McClintock beating former Rep. Doug Ose, a real estate businessman, to claim the Republican nomination in Northern California's 4th Congressional District. McClintock now battles Democrat Charlie Brown to win the seat held by Republican Rep. John Doolittle, who is retiring as he is being investigated in an influence-peddling scandal.

_In Alabama, the retirement of one of the state's longest-serving Republican congressmen offered Democrats their best chance in years to claim a seat that has been in Republican hands since 1964.

Democrats nominated Montgomery Mayor Bobby Bright to try to succeed eight-term Republican Terry Everett. The Republican field of six was led by state Rep. Jay Love, but he was headed for a July 15 runoff with state Sen. Harri Anne Smith because both of them received less than half the vote.

• In Iowa, six-term congressman Leonard Boswell put down a challenge from a more liberal opponent, largely by drawing attention to Ed Fallon's support for Ralph Nader in the 2000 presidential race. Fallon conceded the endorsement was probably his "worst political decision" but said he had repeatedly apologized for backing Nader. And he noted that Al Gore narrowly won Iowa.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080604/ap_on_el_ge/state_primaries_rdp [link]