Ben Sasse, a uiniversity president backed by several Tea Party groups and endorsed by Sarah Palin and Ted Cruz, has won the Nebraska Republican primary for Senate. He overcame a strong challenge from bank president Sid Dinsdale and former state treasurer Shane Osborn who had the backing of the Chamber of Commerce and other establishment PAC's.

Associated Press:

In Nebraska, Sasse, who heads Midland University, had the backing of the Tea Party Patriots and FreedomWorks in his bid to replace Republican Sen. Mike Johanns, who is retiring after a single six-year term.

Sasse had focused on his conservative credentials, opposition to abortion, support for gun rights and goal of repealing and replacing the health care law.

In one 30-second ad, Sasse's two young daughters, Alex and Corrie, talk about how much their dad opposes the Affordable Care Act. "He wants to destroy it," says one daughter. "He despises it," says the other.

While Sasse won over tea partyers, he offered voters some significant establishment credentials. He served as an assistant secretary in the Health and Human Services Department in President George W. Bush's administration, studied at Harvard and Yale, and was a visiting scholar in economics at the Brookings Institution.

Sasse is a heavy favorite against Democratic nominee Dave Domina in the Republican-leaning state.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee, which had remained neutral, called Sasse a "problem-solver who will be a conservative voice" to repeal the health care law.

The tea party has struggled this year as candidates have lost to establishment favorites in Texas, North Carolina and Ohio, and Nebraska stood as the insurgent movement's best remaining shot. Looking ahead to upcoming primaries, the tea party's chances to upset incumbents have been diminishing in Kentucky, Kansas, Idaho and Mississippi.

The Republican establishment has a love-hate relationship with the tea party. It welcomed the movement's energy that propelled the GOP to control of the House in the 2010 elections, but it blames tea partyers for less-than-viable general election candidates in 2010 and 2012 Senate races in Indiana, Colorado, Nevada and Delaware.

Republicans in the capital remain convinced they could have won control of the Senate if only their establishment candidates had won more primaries, and some in the party have been determined to defeat the movement's candidates this election.

McConnell and the rest of DC Republicans can't complain about Sasse winning the nomination. He showed broad appeal beyond the base and is heavily favored to win the general election. There was plenty of mudslinging in this one, with Osborn charging Sasse with being "soft" on Obamacare and Sasse charging Osborn with a lack of integrity. In the end, it hardly mattered. Nebraska is one of the most Republican states in the country and Sasse will face a weak Democratic challenger in November.

In West Virginia, Rep. Shelley Moore Capito and Democrat Natalie Tennant won their respective primaries, setting up a barnburner of a race in November. Capito is favored at this point, largely because President Obama lost every single country in the formerly reliable Democratic state.