Voters head to the polls in 12 states

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Anxious incumbents across the country made their final pitch to primary voters Tuesday, mindful that they could be the next to fall in an unpredictable election year that had claimed several veteran lawmakers.

On the busiest primary night thus far, 12 states were holding primaries and runoffs as a new survey found deepening anti-incumbent sentiment among the electorate and antipathy toward elected officials.

Unpopular Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will find out who his Republican opponent will be this fall. And fellow Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas will learn whether she’ll even be on the November ballot.

Voters also are choosing Democratic and Republican nominees for governor in several states such as Iowa, where the general election contest is certain to be competitive. And GOP primary voters in South Carolina are settling a nasty four-way contest.

The outcomes will determine matchups for November, when Democrats will try to maintain their comfortable majorities in the House and Senate and overcome Republican challenges in dozens of gubernatorial races.

Although Democrats are on defense, the results of previous primaries make clear that neither party is safe from voters’ ire.

Across the board, voters are angry over the state of the country -- the persistent economic woes as well as the typical ways of Washington. And earlier nominating contests in Pennsylvania, Utah, West Virginia and Alabama indicated that voters were willing to fire Washington incumbents, regardless of party.

Four incumbents have fallen — Sens. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) and Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) and Reps. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.) and Parker Griffith (R-Ala.)

-- Associated Press