Just ten days ago we saw the ouster of Sen. Bob Bennett of Utah by the Republican Party there and then West Virginia Democratic Rep. Allan Mollohan lost his primary. Both faced challengers from the right, but tonight saw more liberal Democrats take on more long-serving incumbents and win.  Rep. Joe Sestak toppled Republican-turned-Democrat Sen. Arlen Specter in the Pennsylvania primary, and Sen. Blanche Lincoln was forced into a runoff by Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter. While a big loss for the establishment, both Sestak and Halter do as well or better against GOP challengers according to the polls. As the Pennsylvania and Arkansas races are two of the top targets by Republicans in the fall, this is good news for Democrats who want to limit midterm losses. And they are the better Democrats!

Another good sign was the GOP’s failure to win a special election for the late Rep. John Murtha’s congressional seat in the 12th district of Pennsylvania. This is the kind of district (carried by McCain in 2008) that the Republicans need to win in order to take control of the House in November, but they couldn’t quite do it. They are expected to win a special election for Hawaii’s first congressional district this Saturday, but that’s only because two Democrats are on the ballot and will probably split the vote too much and be edged out. That seat will more than likely be regained in the fall. No doubt, the GOP would rather have won the Pennsylvania seat tonight, as it is the stronger bellweather for what might happen later this year.

In Kentucky, Rand Paul, son of libertarian Rep. Ron Paul, easily won the Republican Senatorial primary, beating the establishment candidate backed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell handily; Attorney General Jack Conway won the Democratic nomination (Kentucky definitely leans Republican, but polls show Conway had the best chance against Paul, and like Sestak and Halter, he’s also the better Dem). This all also fuels the narrative that this maybe more of an anti-incumbent year than an anti-Democratic year. That’s still bad for Democrats as they are a majority of incumbents, but it means Democrats at least aren’t disadvantaged in races where there’s no incumbent or a Republican incumbent.

All in all, this was a very good night for Democrats and progressives. Find more detailed results here.