ONE MAN'S BATTLE FOR THE REPUBLICAN FUTURE

He called Gov. Jan Brewer a "Judas" for betraying Republican principles.

He likened GOP senators' support of Medicaid expansion to Pearl Harbor's "day of infamy."

He said state GOP leaders were lucky there weren't gallows in the town square.

All the barbs came from A.J. LaFaro, the improbable head of the Maricopa County Republican Party. All the barbs were about fellow Republicans, though LaFaro would insist the targets of his ire had abandoned the true principles of their party.

Elected six months ago, LaFaro represents one front in the battle for the soul of the Republican party.

Brash, opinionated and unafraid of offending, LaFaro rode a wave of "tea party" support in his bid to replace one of his own heroes who shares his brand of politics -- Rob Haney.

LaFaro was elected in January following a confrontational election in which he ran farther to the right of another candidate, Lisa Gray, who credits his win to "dirty campaign tactics."

Before his election to county GOP chair, LaFaro fought Tempe City Hall on issues ranging from taxes to employee leadership.

Members of his own party either love him or hate him. Almost no one is in the middle. And everyone, it seems, has an opinion about LaFaro.

Senate Majority Leader John McComish, R-Phoenix, who was among the Republican lawmakers who backed Medicaid expansion, said he is disappointed in LaFaro's performance.

"The difficult thing about rhetoric that's so personal is that it has an impact, and then at some point in time, the primaries are over and you want to get together and be unified," McComish said.

Republican Tom Husband is a fan of LaFaro, saying his leadership "is very focused, clear and vigorous."

"He basically sees things very clearly, and he can articulate some of the subtle distinctions," Husband said.

LaFaro believes his combative defense of conservatism is needed to define what his party stands for -- to Republicans and non-Republicans alike. There's no agreeing to disagree with LaFaro, no gestures toward a big tent.

"I will always speak out; I will always be vocal for the things I believe in," he said during the interview he'd arranged to be held in the historic state Supreme Court chambers in the Capitol museum.

Movements need a conscience, a voice to steer them past pitfalls. LaFaro sees himself as the sharp-tongued enforcer for county Republicans.

"I'm not advancing my agenda -- I firmly believe that I'm advancing the conservative grass-roots agenda," he said.

But some in the party hear a potential death knell in his bombast, saying he further divides the party and alienates potential Republican voters at a crucial moment for the GOP.

Kim Owens, an Avondale Republican who supported LaFaro's opponent for GOP county chair, said she doesn't doubt his sincerity but believes his approach could destroy the party.

LaFaro has no right to determine "who is and isn't a proper Republican," she said.

"The statement he made about the governor and Judas, the comparison to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the letter referencing building gallows in Prescott for Senator (Steve) Pierce and Representative (Andy) Tobin -- those are not the kinds of things that leaders should do," she said.

"This will lead us to fewer Republicans wanting to identify as Republicans for fear of being associated with (those) type of actions," she said.

Still, LaFaro's style plays well with some conservatives who say he has reflected their deep frustration with Brewer -- someone they once admired for her stances on states' rights, illegal immigration and, at one time, President Barack Obama's health-care plan.

How can her embrace of the health-care law's expansion of Medicaid, which LaFaro labeled "OBrewercare," be anything but betrayal, some have asked.

LaFaro cited polls showing a majority of Republicans across the country oppose the president's health-care overhaul.

"The governor says she is a Republican. … She needs to start acting like a Republican," he has said.

Asked if there is room in the party for a diversity of opinion on major issues, LaFaro said he cannot reconcile how a Republican can "sacrifice (their) principles and beliefs ? and propose Medicaid expansion."

So LaFaro makes no apologies for his attacks, saying he should not have to hold his tongue to make a few members of his party more comfortable.

History of activism

The son of "conservative Italian Catholic" parents, LaFaro grew up Tulsa, Okla. ("The reddest state in the United States," he's fond of saying.)

His father was a mechanic for American Airlines before moving up the management ladder and leaving the union ranks. His mom stayed at home and cared for him and his younger sister.

He said his parents taught him to work hard and encouraged him to save money earned from a paper route and bagging groceries to help pay for parochial school.

His political activism began at 21, when he volunteered on city council campaigns. He would again volunteer during Ronald Reagan's presidential campaign in 1980, serving as a part-time volunteer in Reagan's Oklahoma campaign offices. He would also work as a volunteer on Reagan's re-election campaign.

By then, LaFaro had spent time in the Air Force, married, finished college and begun a career as a computer programmer. After the petroleum company where he and his wife worked offered them lucrative voluntary severance packages, they moved to Tempe.

LaFaro largely stayed out of politics until 2000, when he launched a recall campaign against Republican Tempe Mayor Neil Giuliano, partly over a proposal by the city manager to restrict employees' United Way contributions to certain organizations, such as Boy Scouts. The proposal came as the U.S. Supreme Court essentially ruled that the Scouts could prohibit gays from being Scout leaders.

It was a bitter campaign. At one point, LaFaro served as witness and his own attorney as he sought a court injunction to prevent harassment from a Tempe councilman who accused him of bigotry.

LaFaro lost the recall election, held Sept. 11, 2001, by a wide margin.

"I'll always remember that day," he said. "We weren't successful in recalling Neil Giuliano."

The former mayor called LaFaro's supporters at the time "very fringe." He credits LaFaro for giving him political capital to power through his term.

"There will be times where he may be right on an issue … but he's so far out of the mainstream of knowing how to deal with and work with other people that he's never going to be an effective leader," Giuliano said. "I think it's an unfortunate commentary on the state of the county Republican Party if A.J. LaFaro is all they've got."

Over the next decade, LaFaro continued to criticize Tempe leaders over the "ill-conceived Rio Salado Town Lake project" and other spending. He urged voters to reject proposed tax hikes and budget-override measures.

His local activism whetted his appetite for party politics.

In 2011, the Maricopa County Republican Committee elected him as its Legislative District 17 GOP chairman. Then, last fall, he ran for -- and won -- the chairmanship of the county GOP, partly on a platform of inclusiveness.

Political tactics

LaFaro says he'll use his two years as head of the party to bridge the "real, real divide" among conservatives, moderates, tea partyers and Libertarian-leaning Republicans.

His supporters hope the county GOP's influence will grow under his leadership.

But some Republicans and political scientists see LaFaro's brand of politics narrowing the base of the Republican Party at a time when it should be promoting a big-tent philosophy.

The party's image in opinion polls has hit a historic low, according to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. According to that survey, released in February, 62 percent said the GOP is out of touch with Americans, 56 percent thought it's not open to change and 52 percent said the party is too extreme.

Rep. J.D. Mesnard, R-Chandler, said LaFaro, as the face of the county GOP, should be "a more thoughtful, rational voice that is attractive."

"We want to bring people into the party; we want to show them we're a party of ideas, not just a party of rhetoric and flippant comments," said Mesnard, who opposed Medicaid expansion but booed LaFaro for his Judas comment.

McComish said LaFaro's actions contradict his promise to bring Republicans together.

"You want to get together and be unified, but it's hard to do that when you're vilifying … your own party," he said. "It plays into the enemy hands: Democrats love it."

Mesa GOP Sen. Rich Crandall dismissed LaFaro and the county GOP, saying they think they are bigger players than they really are.

"It's a place for people who just want to make a lot of noise, but they have no money, they're not organized in large mass and they're always led by the far, far extreme right," he said. "Until they have the ability to bring solutions to problems, they'll kind of be inconsequential."

David Berman, a senior research fellow at Arizona State University's Morrison Institute for Public Policy, said LaFaro's rhetoric might keep the base "activated and aroused," but it remains to be seen if it's productive.

"You have the leading icon of the Republican Party (Brewer), and you have this county chairman who thinks he's fully entitled to call her whatever he thinks," Berman said. "It makes the party look like an extremist party. It will stiffen resistance (against Republicans) and cause a lot of heat. And in the end, I don't know if they're going to get what they want."

Rob Haney, who urged LaFaro to run to replace him as chairman of the county GOP, said that LaFaro speaks for the Republican base and that sometimes leaders need to be outspoken to be effective, even if it stirs controversy.

But other Republicans, while agreeing with LaFaro politically,wish he'd take a more measured tone.

"Although the sentiment of what he is saying is felt by many precinct committeemen, I just wouldn't have said it," Mickie Niland, chairman of the LD 12 Republican committee, said of the Judas remark. "I want to disagree, but I don't want to be disagreeable."

LaFaro says he will now work to oust Republicans who supported Medicaid expansion and aid an effort to refer Medicaid expansion to voters.

One recent morning, dressed in a gray suit and tie, LaFaro stood in a House hearing room shortly before a Medicaid debate, shaking hands and patting the shoulders of conservative lawmakers.

"Thanks for the good fight," he said to one.

To two women wearing red AARP shirts, he bellowed, "Hey, I used to be in your organization! I dropped my membership of AARP after 13 years."

The organization supported Medicaid expansion.

LaFaro, who considers himself to be articulate and bold, says he sees no need to apologize for his remarks and style. But that doesn't mean the incident hasn't given him a reason to reflect.

"I will probably think more carefully before I choose my words," he said.

Copyright 2013 The Arizona Republic|azcentral.com. All rights reserved.For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

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Independents' vote crucial for Parker, Sinema in House battle

A tree-lined Phoenix street near the Arizona Biltmore offered a glimpse on a recent afternoon into the unpredictability of the 9th District congressional race.

Residents of three nearby houses were registered as Democrat, independent and Republican. Their varied affiliations reflect the nearly even split between the major parties in the district, as well as the prevalence of voters with "no party preference."

Republican Vernon Parker and Democrat Kyrsten Sinema will have to court the independent crowd more than candidates in any other U.S. House race in the state.

In Arizona, only the 9th District is dominated by independents, who outnumber Republicans by 15,000 and Democrats by 21,000. By definition, these so-called swing voters are not easy to pin down.

Arizona has two other competitive districts -- northern Arizona's 1st District and southern Arizona's 2nd District -- but neither has as many independent voters.

"I don't like to classify myself with one or another. It's like belonging to one religion," said 58-year-old interior designer Karen Rapp, the independent living on the Phoenix street. She said she often votes Democratic for state offices and Republican for federal offices because she likes the idea of parties splitting power and thinks their platforms work better in those positions.

This time around, though, she plans to deviate and vote for Sinema because a neighbor -- the nearby registered Democrat -- works for the former state lawmaker's campaign and has sung her praises.

To attract more independent voters like Rapp, Parker and Sinema are touting their crossover appeal and accusing each other of being "extreme."

The candidates tell stories of overcoming childhood poverty through education and hard work. They argue that their ideas about taxes and the economy will help middle-class families. And on some issues, such as immigration, they advocate positions closer to the middle than some in their parties.

For instance, Sinema voted in the Legislature for sending National Guard troops to the border and stiffening penalties for owners of drophouses. In Congress, she wants to require banks to freeze suspected drug-cartel accounts.

Parker, on the other hand, recently told The Arizona Republic he would support some version of the Dream Act or Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's alternative to provide a path to legal status for young immigrants brought to the United States illegally by their parents, though he did not specify what changes he would make to those plans.

Wes Gullett, a political strategist at the nonpartisan consulting firm FirstStrategic Communications and Public Affairs and a former Republican candidate for Phoenix mayor, said 9th District voters are among the most politically engaged in the state. Much of the district is expected to vote this fall.

An Arizona Republic analysis of voting data shows primary turnout, though small overall, was highest among independents in north and central Phoenix, suggesting the battle between Parker and Sinema may be fiercest there. The district also covers parts of Paradise Valley, Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, Chandler and Ahwatukee Foothills.

Gullett, who is not supporting either candidate, said north-central Phoenix neighborhoods like Arcadia and areas near Piestewa Peak are always highly contested in city, legislative and congressional races. Voters in those areas pay attention, he said.

"There's lots of opportunity there for both campaigns to do well," Gullett said. "It all comes back to those swing voters and figuring out who those swing voters are."

Campaign battlegrounds

The Republic's analysis of 9th District primary data shows:

Independent turnout was small, offering only limited clues to the general election. A variety of factors, including the challenge of requesting a primary ballot, deter independents from voting in the primary. But campaigns use the information as one indicator of where to spend resources for the general election, when many more independents and party voters will cast ballots.

North-central Phoenix, followed by parts of Tempe, Mesa and Ahwatukee, drew the strongest independent turnout during the primary. Those areas are likely to draw high participation in the general election and could become campaign battlegrounds.

Independents voted like their neighbors. In precincts where registered Republicans cast more primary votes, independents also swung Republican. The same was true for precincts that leaned Democratic. Parker and Sinema will likely garner the most support from independents in areas where their party bases are enthusiastic.

Though independent registration continues to grow in Arizona, independents who vote in primaries remain rare, as is the case with all voters. Only 8.8 percent of ballots cast in the 9th District primary came from independents, according to data provided to The Republic from the Maricopa County Elections Department through the state Democratic Party.

One reason independents turn out in low numbers is the extra step to receive early primary ballots, said Paul Johnson, a former Phoenix Democratic mayor. While party voters on the permanent early-voting list automatically receive primary ballots, independents must tell the county Elections Department which party ballot they want.

That keeps many independents from voting, said Johnson.

He is advocating for passage of Proposition 121, which would eliminate the party-ballot system and allow voters, regardless of party, to vote for any candidate during the primary. Independents then would receive early ballots as party voters do. Opponents say in practice the system is unlikely to boost independent turnout.

Rapp, the independent Phoenix voter, didn't vote in the primary because she didn't receive an early ballot.

"It wasn't convenient," Rapp said.

Other independents may sit out primaries because they don't feel strongly enough to vote or don't think it's right to participate in a partisan primary, said Michael O'Neil, president of Tempe polling firm O'Neil Associates Inc.

Since many more independents are expected to vote on Nov. 6, the primary patterns provide some insight but aren't enough to predict the general-election outcome, O'Neil said.

"It might be suggestive, but it's not necessarily predictive," he said.

Still, independents are key to the race, he said, because party registrations are so close. If party voters turn out in equal numbers, swing voters could determine whether Parker or Sinema win.

The closest correlation between the primary and the general is turnout, said Jim Haynes, president of the Phoenix-based polling company Behavior Research Center. Areas that drew heavy participation from independent voters in the primary are likely to stay that way in the general.

Precincts with the highest independent turnout were in north-central Phoenix, where both Parker and Sinema drew strong support from party voters because of their long ties there. Parker served near the area as Paradise Valley mayor and councilman. Sinema was a state legislator and social worker in the area. Both resigned this year to focus on their campaigns.

The north Phoenix Madison Heights precinct, which abuts Paradise Valley, had the highest independent participation, 15 percent. Precincts with independent turnout higher than 9 percent also occurred in west Mesa, south Tempe and Ahwatukee Foothills.

Residents in those neighborhoods typically have higher incomes, higher education and deeper roots in the community, Gullett said. Those factors are often linked to turnout.

One anomaly may be in the Tempe precincts around Arizona State University, according to Gullett, where primary participation was tiny. Those areas could become more active in the fall when students are settled in school, he said.

Many unknowns

Though it's harder to predict how independents will vote in the general election, Republic maps of primary returns show independents largely followed the party leanings in their neighborhoods.

Independents went red in Republican-leaning northeast Phoenix, west Mesa and west Chandler, while independents went blue in Democratic-leaning central Phoenix, Tempe and downtown Chandler.

Campaigns will use that information, coupled with voter profiles compiled by the state parties and past elections results, to determine voters and neighborhoods to target with direct mail, phone calls and door-knocking.

Haynes said he wasn't surprised to see independents leaning in the same direction as their party-registered neighbors. Some independents may be disaffected party members who still vote with the party they dropped.

But much remains unknown about many independents, he said, such as whether they are former Democrats, former Republicans or independents from the start. If he were a part of a campaign, Haynes said, his biggest effort would be to "find out who these people are and how to reach them."

Much work ahead

Though the Parker and Sinema campaigns see value in understanding the primary voting patterns, they promise to go after both independents and party voters and to compete across the district.

The candidates' work is cut out for them.

Jeanette Irwin was watering her garden while she talked politics. The 68-year-old retired teacher and registered Republican said she's open to voting for either candidate, though she likes what she's heard about Parker.

"I'm still deciding," Irwin said. "We have many times voted Democratic if the candidates are better. … I wouldn't vote party totally. I financially support the Republican Party, but hey, if somebody else is better ?"

Copyright 2012 The Arizona Republic|azcentral.com. All rights reserved.For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

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Tea Party's battle in Texas shows it's 'maturing'

DALLAS – The Tea Party is trading in town halls and tricorn hats for phone banks and voter-turnout drives.

By Johnny Hanson, AP

Sarah Palin, far left, stands with her husband, Todd, and Ted Cruz, Texas candidate for the U.S. Senate, and his wife, Heidi, on Friday in The Woodlands, Texas.

By Johnny Hanson, AP

Sarah Palin, far left, stands with her husband, Todd, and Ted Cruz, Texas candidate for the U.S. Senate, and his wife, Heidi, on Friday in The Woodlands, Texas.

The conservative movement that captured the nation's attention in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and helped fuel Republican 2010 election victories across the country is transitioning from a protest movement to one more targeted, local, and with less theatrical engagement.

"I think it's a maturing of the Tea Party movement," said Matt Kibbe, president of FreedomWorks, a fiscally conservative advocacy group that has worked closely with the Tea Party.

Activists have been scrapping efforts such as the confrontational town-hall-style meetings that defined the summer of 2010 in favor of more traditional political engagement in local races, particularly in nominating processes to boost candidates they support.

"It's been pretty dramatic, but it's been so systematic that I'm not sure that people noticed," Kibbe said.

One of the biggest tests of strength for the movement's ability to upend the GOP establishment in 2012 is Tuesday, when formerly long-shot candidate attorney Ted Cruz is favored by election analysts to upset Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in the Senate Republican primary runoff in a race to replace retiring GOP Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Cruz started the race underfunded, lesser-known and without the support of the Texas Republican Party establishment, including Gov. Rick Perry. Endorsements from GOP activists, such as former Alaska governor Sarah Palin and Sens. Jim DeMint of South Carolina and Rand Paul of Kentucky, brought in national attention and money. That was coupled with on-the-ground organizing support from local Tea Party activists such as Toby Marie Walker, and it has transformed Cruz to the odds-on favorite.

"This race with Ted Cruz has sat close to my heart," said Walker, 45, who volunteers full-time for the Waco Tea Party. She said Tea Party activists were discouraged at the onset of the race that no candidate could overcome Dewhurst's money juggernaut.

By Danese Kenon, AP

Jean Johannigman sings "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the beginning of the FreedomWorks rally for GOP Senate candidate Richard Mourdock on May 5 in Indianapolis.

After Dewhurst failed to win more than 50% of the vote in the May primary, conservative activists were emboldened for the runoff election, knowing that such races traditionally have lower turnout and tend to favor the candidate whose supporters are most engaged. "We have an election cycle under our belts, and we're more attuned to how the game is played," Walker said.

Cruz's youth — he's 41 — and biography — he's the son of a Cuban-American father who was imprisoned in Cuba before fleeing to Texas — have drawn comparisons to Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a Tea Party-favored candidate in 2010.

"I think Ted Cruz is a superstar for the conservative movement," said Torin Archbold, 48, a car salesman from Austin.

Republicans control the House of Representatives, but Democrats control the Senate 53-47, which has led activists to focus on Senate primaries as part of a two-part effort to get GOP control of the chamber and populate it with more conservative Republicans. The results have been mixed.

In Indiana, Richard Mourdock handily defeated incumbent Sen. Richard Lugar by running to his right, but Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, waged a successful re-election campaign against a Tea Party-supported opponent. Senate GOP establishment candidates Heather Wilson of New Mexico and George Allen of Virginia likewise won primaries despite challenges from the right. In Nebraska, Tea Party allies were divided in the primary, opening up a surprise victory for Deb Fischer, who was not as closely identified with the Tea Party but secured an endorsement from Palin in the closing days of the race.

FreedomWorks for America, a political organizing group associated with the Tea Party, has endorsed in upcoming primaries businessman John Brunner, who is in a three-way GOP primary to take on Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.; Rep. Jeff Flake in Arizona; and businessman Eric Hovde who is running against establishment favorite, former governor Tommy Thompson in Wisconsin.

The endorsements underscore how the Tea Party movement remains loosely organized and often contradictory. For instance, although FreedomWorks has endorsed Brunner, Tea Party Express, another activist group, has endorsed Brunner's primary opponent, Sarah Steelman. In Arizona, Flake is facing wealthy businessman Wil Cardon, who is self-funded and challenging Flake's Tea Party credentials.

"It's a principled movement, but there's a lot of differences," Walker said. "Some work well with their Republican Party, others want nothing to do with their Republican Party. Some Tea Parties are all wrapped up in Ron Paul; some focus on things like constitutional teachings … but they are all much more engaged in the political process."

DeMint, a lawmaker popular among Tea Party supporters, said he views the phrase "Tea Party" in more symbolic terms. "The Tea Party is kind of a visual representation of a lot of citizen activism."

If Cruz wins Tuesday, he is all but guaranteed to win in November in Republican-leaning Texas. Mourdock is favored to win, as is Fischer, who is running for a Democratic-held seat and would provide a Republican pickup. The eventual Republican nominees in Missouri and Wisconsin will also likely be in competitive races for Democratic-held seats.

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Senate Primary Over, New Battle Begins in Indiana

Democrats were casting the general election fight as a referendum on whether moderates should still have a place in Washington, while Tea Party organizers said it would be seen as a national test of the movement’s enduring strength.

Democratic leaders, who had doubted their odds against Mr. Lugar, a Republican so moderate that even the leaders admitted that plenty of Democrats liked him, sounded giddy about their November opponent: Richard E. Mourdock, a Tea Party-supported Republican who seized a remarkable 61 percent of the vote in part by denouncing bipartisanship and pledging to an unwavering conservative approach.

“Democratic donors across the country are going to see this as a prime pickup opportunity,” said Matt Canter, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, who added that the Indiana seat would fall among five top Republican-held seats being targeted in the fight for control of the Senate.

Labor leaders, too, said they saw an opportunity now in Indiana. “We’re all ramping up our plans as we speak,” said Nancy J. Guyott, president of the Indiana A.F.L.-C.I.O.

National conservative groups, some of which had poured more than $3 million to benefit Mr. Mourdock in the primary, were poised to send still more if needed. The number of such outside groups also appeared likely to grow if the contest here, against Representative Joe Donnelly, a Democrat, appears truly competitive — a notion some conservative leaders remained skeptical about, given Indiana’s Republican leanings.

“It’s a big race because a lot hinges on our success,” said Brendan Steinhauser, director of federal and state campaigns at FreedomWorks, which trains Tea Party members and which spent about $850,000 in Mr. Mourdock’s victory and plans to be similarly involved in the general election.

“If Mourdock were not to win,” Mr. Steinhauser said, the gloating would come not just from Democrats but establishment Republicans, pointing to the Tea Party. “They would want to blame that on us — ‘See, we told you so,’ ” he said.

By Wednesday, the outlines of a new political battle were emerging, with Democrats trying to paint Mr. Mourdock as a far-right candidate with little appeal for independents or moderate Republicans, and conservatives portraying Mr. Donnelly as a typical Democrat.

The Club for Growth, which had spent money on television and radio commercials against Mr. Lugar in the primary and said it would contribute more, if needed, in the general election, said Mr. Donnelly was “an economic liberal who votes in lock-step” with Democratic leaders.

Mr. Donnelly, who was elected in 2006 to represent a northern Indiana district, described himself as among the most conservative Democrats in the House in a moment when, he said, voters are looking for something different than they were in 2010. “Right now, it’s not about fire and brimstone,” he said. “It’s about jobs and the opportunity for your family to succeed.”

Although President Obama won Indiana in 2008, the state has long been a place where Republicans do well, and Mr. Obama is considered unlikely to win here again. None of it would seem to be fertile ground for a Democratic Senate bid, and some conservative leaders said they remained unconvinced that Mr. Mourdock would have any trouble in November.

But Dan Parker, the chairman of the Indiana Democratic Party, described Mr. Mourdock as an “extreme Tea Party candidate,” who would not appeal to a general election audience. “Dick Lugar was the mainstream Republican,” he said. “Indiana is not crazy conservative.”

Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, a Democrat, who rose from nowhere to be elected in 2010 after Republicans there rejected a popular moderate and nominated Tea Party favorite Christine O’Donnell, said he reached out to Mr. Donnelly Tuesday night after Mr. Lugar’s defeat.

“I think there’s a very good chance he could be the Chris Coons of 2012,” the senator said.

State Republican leaders, calling on Wednesday for party unity following Mr. Lugar’s loss, stood beside Mr. Mourdock on a stage here and seemed eager to play down his Tea Party ties and emphasize his traditional Republican credentials. Complicating the efforts, Mr. Lugar, who was not in attendance at the gathering, issued a sharp statement condemning what he suggested was a rising trend of rejecting political independence and bipartisan conversation.  

“He comes right out of the heart, right out of mainstream of our party, and I think that was really, among many, his longest single suit in the huge win that he had yesterday,” said Gov. Mitch Daniels, the governor, who had endorsed Mr. Lugar and had previously said he viewed Mr. Mourdock as a friend.

Indeed, Mr. Mourdock is in his second term as state treasurer, and he has been known for appearing at local Republican events and county dinners for years; when he announced his bid for the senate, he had a surprising majority of endorsements from the party’s county chairmen and chairwomen around the state.

“The first label they’re going to try to put on me is that Mourdock is this wild-eyed Tea Party guy,” Mr. Mourdock said. “But as the governor said, I’ve been swimming in the pool of Republican politics a long time,” he said, growing choked up as he described his love for the party.

Jonathan Weisman contributed reporting from Washington, and Steven Greenhouse from New York.

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House Republicans riven by internal battle over spending

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A battle among Republicans in the House of Representatives over government spending laid bare on Thursday deep divisions that threaten the party's hopes of major gains in the November congressional elections.

House Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican in Congress, faced a new challenge to his authority as lawmakers aligned to the budget-slashing Tea Party movement ignored his plea to support a $260 billion job creation measure he had championed.

Boehner told reporters he was ready to abandon the highway, bridges and railroad funding bill after fiscally conservative lawmakers balked at the price tag.

The bill was meant to help Republicans stake an election-year claim as the party of job creation, funding as many as 7.8 million new jobs in the U.S. construction industry.

But Tea Party-affiliated lawmakers, a powerful group within the 242-member House Republican caucus, were elected in 2010 on a wave of voter discontent over a bad economy and government spending. They have repeatedly shown themselves to be uncompromising on tax and spending issues, bringing the United States to the brink of an unprecedented debt default last year.

"This is a very difficult process we're in," Boehner acknowledged on Thursday. "We've got a new majority, we've got 89 freshmen and my job every day is to work with our members and find out where the center of gravity is," he said.

Boehner has struggled over the past year to control an unruly caucus that has often bucked his leadership, raising repeated questions about his staying power. The Republican leader and aides dismiss talk that he is vulnerable to an ouster.

But internal revolt is also stirring over federal spending levels for 2013. Fiscally conservative lawmakers now want even deeper spending cuts than those agreed to with the White House in a deficit reduction deal last August.

So, instead of putting the finishing touches on a budget that they can contrast with Democratic spending priorities in an election year, Republican leaders huddled with House Budget Committee members on Thursday in an effort to quell the conflict within their party.

But they failed to agree on a spending cut target that could please both conservatives and more moderate members.

"There are differences of opinion within our conference," Representative Mike Simpson told reporters after the meeting.

AIDES ACKNOWLEDGE DIFFICULTIES

Veteran Washington political analyst Larry Sabato said there was a "deep divide, not fully acknowledged within the caucus."

"They don't grasp how deep," he said.

The intra-party infighting comes seven weeks after House Republicans pledged at a party retreat to bury their differences and unify to defeat President Barack Obama in November.

The display of unity followed a public relations nightmare for them in December when the party struggled to heal an internal rift over whether to extend a costly payroll tax cut extension for 160 million Americans.

The squabbling threatens to distract the party when it is meant to be focused on retaining control of the House and recapturing the Senate from Democrats.

Two senior House Republicans aides, asking not to be identified, acknowledged the difficulties their party faced just eight months before the November 6 elections.

"It is easy to take a snapshot now and say, 'look things aren't going well,'" one of the aides said, while laying the blame on Democrats. "We don't have the Senate and we don't have the White House. Nobody expected this Congress would be easy."

The second aide said Boehner was in a difficult bind. If he decided to allow a 2013 House budget proposal with deeper spending cuts than planned in order to win Tea Party support, he could end up painting the party into a corner.

The aide said setting a lower level in the spending bills might be popular with some voters, but the bills, which must be approved by September 30, were unlikely to get Democratic votes and enough moderate Republican support to assure passage.

That would leave Republicans with two choices just six weeks before the November 6 elections, the aide said: Switch their votes to support the higher spending levels - a potentially embarrassing move - or threaten government shutdowns as funding would be running out with the start of the new fiscal year on October 1. That likely would bring a strong voter backlash.

Representative Bill Shuster, a six-term Republican who worked to build Republican support for the now-stalled transportation bill, said the large number of Republican newcomers to the House makes for an uphill battle.

"You have 89 members who never seen a transportation bill before," Shuster said of the freshmen, many of them Tea Party supporters. "It's a lot of people to educate."

(Additional reporting by Thomas Ferraro, editing by Ross Colvin; desking by Cynthia Osterman)

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