Synar Loses in Close Oklahoma Primary : Elections: Voters eject incumbent congressman, OK term limits. Elsewhere, GOP picks candidates to oppose Sen. Kennedy, House Speaker Foley.

In a stunning upset, Oklahoma Rep. Mike Synar lost a Democratic runoff Tuesday to a little-known retired school principal, becoming the third incumbent this year to lose a congressional primary election.

In Massachusetts’ primary, W. Mitt Romney, son of former Michigan Gov. George Romney, easily won the GOP nomination to challenge Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. State Rep. Mark Roosevelt, a great-grandson of Theodore Roosevelt, defeated two candidates for the right to challenge popular GOP Gov. William F. Weld.

In other races, Oklahoma voters overwhelmingly approved a measure to limit U.S. representatives to three two-year terms and senators to two six-year terms. And Lt. Gov. Jack Mildren won a Democratic runoff for governor.

In Washington state, voters chose candidates to challenge GOP Sen. Slade Gorton and House Speaker Thomas S. Foley, a Democrat.

In Oklahoma’s 2nd district, Virgil Cooper had 47,798 votes, or 51%, to 45,189 votes, or 49%, for Synar with 100% of precincts reporting.

Cooper acknowledged that some of his votes were protests against Synar, who has been criticized in his rural northeastern Oklahoma district of ranchers and farmers for supporting many of President Clinton’s policies.

“People would grab your hand and you would tell them you’re running against Mike Synar. They would say ‘You’ve got my vote,’ ” Cooper said.

Synar, an eight-term congressman, was forced into the runoff after failing to get a majority of the vote in the Aug. 23 primary.

The other House Democrats defeated in primaries this year were Reps. Craig Washington of Houston and Lucien E. Blackwell of Philadelphia.

Cooper will face Republican Tom Coburn, a Muskogee, Okla., doctor, in the Nov. 8 general election.

In Massachusetts’ GOP Senate primary, Romney had 102,129 votes, or 82%, to 22,046, or 18%, for fellow millionaire businessman John Lakian, with 55% of precincts reporting. Kennedy had no primary opposition.

GOP officials believe they have a chance of ousting Kennedy with the 47-year-old Romney, who has never held elected office.

Recent polls showed many voters think the 62-year-old Kennedy, the fourth-longest serving member of the Senate, has been in office too long. He was first elected in 1962.

Romney told cheering supporters that his next campaign stop would be the U.S. Senate, and Kennedy declared he was ready for battle.

“I have a very clear idea of where I stand, what I believe in,” Kennedy said.

In the Democratic gubernatorial primary, Roosevelt had 109,449 votes, or 48%; former state Sen. George Bachrach had 59,778 votes, or 26%, and state Sen. Michael Barrett had 56,665 votes, or 25%.

In Oklahoma’s Democratic gubernatorial runoff, Mildren defeated state Sen. Bernice Shedrick by a margin of 59% to 41% with 100% of precincts reporting.

Mildren, a former star quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners, will face Republican Frank Keating, a former Justice Department official, and independent Wes Watkins, a former congressman.

Oklahoma’s term limits measure passed by a margin of 67% to 33% with all precincts reporting.