Sununu Beats Smith and Other Election Outcomes

WASHINGTON – Other Elections Around the Nation

In New Hampshire, John Sununu, the son of a former governor and White House chief of staff, beat out Sen. Bob Smith for the Republican senatorial nomination, making Smith the first senator to lose in a primary in 10 years. Many blamed Smith's temporary defection from the party three years ago for his loss.

"New Hampshire needs a clear, effective, strong voice in the U.S. Senate. I will provide that voice on issues most important to New Hampshire, funding for special education, cutting taxes and regulations on small business," Sununu said in his victory speech.

Sununu will now face Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen for the state's Senate seat.

In North Carolina, Elizabeth Dole handily defeated her primary challengers in the race for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Jesse Helms. Dole ran away with 80 percent of the votes.

The former Cabinet secretary will now go head to head with former Clinton White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles, who won the Democratic nomination with 43 percent of the vote.

In another crucial race for the fall, Democratic Sen. Paul Wellstone and Republican Norm Coleman easily won their primaries in Minnesota.

Elsewhere, voters in 12 states determined fall lineups for six open governor's offices, three of the most competitive Senate seats and a few House seats that could influence control of Congress and the shape of the next two years of President Bush's administration.

With control of Congress split and held by a narrow margin, this year's elections could tip the balance either way. Democrats control the Senate by one seat; the GOP holds the House, with 222 Republicans, 211 Democrats and two independents.

Open seats for governor drew aggressive campaigns, too:

-- Tech-boom multimillionaire Craig Benson defeated two other candidates, including former Sen. Gordon Humphrey, for the GOP nomination for the New Hampshire governor's seat left open by Shaheen.

-- In Arizona, Attorney General Janet Napolitano, a Democrat, will face former GOP Rep. Matt Salmon in the fall race to replace two-term GOP Gov. Jane Hull.

-- In Rhode Island, former state Sen. Myrth York defeated state Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse for the Democratic nomination to replace Rhode Island GOP Gov. Lincoln Almond, who is leaving office because of term limits. York will face Don Carcieri, a former math teacher who became an executive in a large corporation.

In Maryland, Democratic Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and Republican Rep. Robert Ehrlich both won their parties' nominations. But Kennedy cousin Mark Shriver lost to state Sen. Christopher Van Hollen, a former trade negotiator in the Clinton administration, for the opportunity to take on Rep. Connie Morella, an eight-term moderate Republican in a Democratic district.

In New York, GOP Gov. George Pataki will face state comptroller H. Carl McCall, whose contentious Democratic primary ended early with former Clinton cabinet member Andrew Cuomo's withdrawal.

In Washington, D.C., Mayor Anthony Williams ran a write-in campaign after he was dropped from the ballot for petition irregularities. He faced Rev. Willie Wilson, also a write-in candidate, in a race likely to decide the fall winner. Results weren't expected for days though after a first day of tallies, Williams was leading by about 16,000 votes.

Fox News' Collins Spencer and the Associated Press contributed to this report.