Senate: Post-Primary Bottom Lines (NE, PA)

The following Bottom Lines have been updated following this week's Senate primaries in Nebraska and Pennslyvania

In 2012, Deb Fischer, then a state legislator, scored an upset in the Republican primary by beating two better-known and battle-tested candidates. She took 41 percent to 36 percent for then-Attorney General Jon Bruning and 19 percent for state Treasurer Don Stenberg. Democrats recruited former U.S. Sen. Bob Kerrey to run, but Kerrey had been living in New York City for much of the previous decade and Republicans were able to portray him as out of touch with voters. Fischer prevailed in the general election, 55 percent to 42 percent. While Fischer has amassed a conservative voting record and doesn’t appear to have made any serious errors in her first term, the only poll released in the race suggests some softness in Fischer’s support; her re-elect and job approval scores were in the mid-30s. GOP strategists contend that their polling shows that Fischer is in a much stronger position. Fischer easily won the GOP primary with 76 percent against four other candidates. Given