Tea party helps topple Utah GOP senator

The national tea-party movement toppled its first incumbent Saturday as long-serving Sen. Robert Bennett was defeated at the Utah Republican Party's nominating convention.

Bennett, 76, seeking a fourth term after 18 years in office, became the first sitting senator to fall in the ideological battle being waged in his party. Although he has long been viewed as a reliable conservative with deep Mormon roots, Republicans instead rallied behind two candidates — neither of whom has held political office — who will compete for the nomination at a June primary.

Bennett's failure to make it into Utah's GOP primary demonstrates the challenges candidates face from the right in 2010.

"The political atmosphere obviously has been toxic, and it's very clear that some of the votes that I have cast have added to the toxic environment," Bennett said, choking back tears. "Looking back on them, with one or two very minor exceptions, I wouldn't have cast any of them any differently, even if I had known at the time they were going to cost me my career."

National tea-party organizers embraced the victory as a major first step toward returning the Republican Party to its conservative foundations of limited government and low taxes. At the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, tea-party activists cheered and celebrated after Bennett lost.

"This is a symbol that the tea-party movement and the broader limited-government agenda is huge," said Brendan Steinhauser, grass-roots director for the national tea-party organization FreedomWorks, which set up a booth at the convention to herald Bennett's defeat.

Steinhauser said Bennett's defeat represents a critical first win that will help build momentum in other contests across the nation. Next up is Kentucky, where tea-party candidate Rand Paul is running hard in a GOP primary battle against Trey Grayson, the hand-picked candidate of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Some activists suggested they may seek to oust Utah's other senator, Orrin Hatch, a Republican whose term expires in 2012.

Bennett came under fire from conservative activists for voting for former President George W. Bush's bank-bailout measure in 2008 and working with Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., on a compromise health-care overhaul bill that included an individual mandate.

He has also taken heat for reneging on his campaign promise, back in 1992, to serve just two terms; this year, he was seeking his fourth.

Bennett lost in the second of three ballots under Utah's complicated nominating system. He did so despite an introduction from former presidential contender Mitt Romney, who is enormously popular in Utah.

The two remaining candidates — attorney Mike Lee and businessman Tim Bridgewater, both of whom courted tea-party voters — faced off in a third ballot. Because neither won 60 percent of the vote, they will compete again in a June 22 primary.

Material from The Associated Press is included in this report.