WASHINGTON — Is the tea party the new Republican Party? The grass-roots network of fed-up conservative-libertarian voters displayed its power in its biggest triumph of the election year: the toppling of Sen. Lisa Murkowski in Alaska's GOP primary. Political novice Joe Miller is the fifth tea party insurgent to win a GOP Senate nominating contest, an upset that few, if any, saw coming.

Experts say incumbency has become enough of a liability this year to trump the conventional advantage of money in the bank. Read more...

AP photoU.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski gives her concession speech on Tuesday at her campaign headquarters in Anchorage, Alaska. Murkowski has conceded her Senate primary race to Joe Miller. By LIZ SIDOTI NATIONAL POLITICAL WRITER WASHINGTON -- Is the tea party...

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska concedes to Joe Miller in Alaska's Aug. 24 primary. She joins six other congressional incumbents who lost in their party's primaries.

By Alex Leary - Thu, Sep 02 2010 Bennett LeBow, a corporate raider who recently became CEO of ailing bookseller Borders, contributed $20,000 to the 527 political committee backing Charlie Crist's independent bid for U.S. Senate. Friends for Freedom and Prosperity also collected $20,000 from Robert Stork , a Vero Beach businessman who previously gave $30,000. All told, the committee has collected ...