Rep. John Mica Defeats Tea Party Rep. Sandy Adams in Florida Primary
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Mica [dot] House [dot] gov(ORLANDO, Fla.) — Rep. John Mica fended off a tea party challenge in his Florida Republican primary on Tuesday.
Sarah Palin-backed Rep. Sandy Adams failed to muster the votes to win in Florida’s new 7th district, which encompassed much of her current territory in the 112th Congress.
Palin, who endorsed Adams in July, was delivered her second primary-pick loss in as many weeks; Sarah Steelman’s loss in the Missouri GOP Senate primary last Tuesday broke Palin’s unbeaten streak in Senate-primary picks.
Palin’s endorsees have gone four for five in GOP Senate primaries. After Tuesday night, Palin will be 12 of 14 in House primaries, after Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Ohio, lost her March primary to political newcomer and Army Reserves Maj. Brad Westrup.
Driven by House redistricting, the race brought two conservative lawmakers into a heated clash, as Adams sought to paint Mica as a big spender for decades of Congressional earmarking.
Adams entered the House as part of the tea party class of 2010 and drew some attention by sponsoring a bill to prevent foreign law from being used in U.S. Courts. Mica, who is serving his 10th consecutive House term, won election in 1992 and is the younger brother of former Democratic Rep. Dan Mica, who became a prominent trade-association lawyer in Washington after his exit from Congress.
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