Barack Obama
Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks during a primary election night rally in St Paul, Minn., Tuesday, June 3, 2008. Obama claimed the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday night in a long-time-coming victory speech that minced no words about his opponent in the fall campaign, Republican John McCain. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

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The stage was set for an expensive and closely watched Senate race in Maine as Democrat Tom Allen brushed aside his primary challenger while South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham easily won his primary against a fellow Republican.

Meanwhile, South Carolina's Democratic Senate primary was headed for a recount after Tuesday's vote.

And in Virginia, a county official beat a former congresswoman in the bitter Democratic contest for the seat being vacated by retiring Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Davis.

Allen beat political newcomer Tom Ledue, racking up more than 80 percent of the vote in the Senate primary. Allen now faces Republican incumbent Susan Collins in one of the nation's most closely watched Senate races this fall. Collins was unopposed in the Republican primary.

In South Carolina, Graham won against challenger Buddy Witherspoon, who accused him of being too liberal and hammered his ties to John McCain.

Attorney Michael Cone and engineer Bob Conley were seeking the Democratic nomination for Graham's seat. But with all precincts reporting, the race between the two was nearly evenly split and headed to an automatic recount. Conley led the race by less than 1,000 votes.

"Principled compromise is the lifeblood of democracy and those who seek principled compromise to advance their state and their nation are doing what the voters want," Graham said in his victory speech.

Witherspoon, a retired orthodontist and former Republican National Committee member, criticized the one-term incumbent Graham as too liberal for conservative South Carolina. Graham also took heat from the potential Democratic challengers on a failed illegal immigration measure he and McCain worked on.

Graham's immigration measure, which would have provided a path to citizenship, drew derision last year at the state GOP convention, and Cone and Conley both called the plan amnesty for illegal immigrants.

But Graham, an Air Force Reserve colonel who has served in Iraq, had name recognition and a huge financial advantage. McCain won the January primary in South Carolina and Graham used his endorsement in television ads.

Farther north, Democrats vied for the chance to pick up a seat in Virginia's 11th Congressional District, where Republican moderate Davis is retiring after nearly 14 years. He represents suburbs in and around the Capital Beltway, including much of Fairfax County, the wealthiest in the nation.

The two leading Democratic candidates were longtime rivals. Gerry Connolly, chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, beat former Rep. Leslie Byrne, who held the seat for one term before losing it to Davis in the Republicans' 1994 takeover of Congress.

Connolly won the four-way primary with about 56 percent of the vote, compared to about 34 percent for Byrne, according to unofficial vote tallies.

"It was a hard battle, there were outside interest groups that came in and you can see tonight that that was a big turnoff," Connolly said.

In November, Connolly will face Republican Keith Fimian, a businessman making his first run for office.

Southern Maine's 1st District, where Allen is giving up his seat, featured a hotly contested six-way Democratic race and a two-way Republican contest.

Chellie Pingree, a former Senate majority leader, won the Democratic primary while Charlie Summers, a former state senator who recently returned from duty with the Navy in Iraq, won the Republican race, according to unofficial vote totals.

And in Georgia, a political consultant defeated a national guardsman just back from a tour in Iraq in a runoff election to replace state Rep. Ron Sailor, who is facing prison time for money laundering. Dee Dawkins-Haigler had 54 percent of the vote, beating Malik Douglas.

Associated Press writers Glenn Adams in Augusta, Maine, and Bob Lewis in Richmond, Va., contributed to this report.

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