Today is a day for political wonks to spend long hours proselytizing about the fortunes of political challengers and the fate of incumbents as 12 states hold primaries so that the parties can choose whom they want to run for positions ranging from the House of Representatives to Governor. 

On top of that is the run off race in Arkansas between Democratic incumbent Senator Blanche Lincoln and Democratic challenger and Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter.  If Senator Lincoln loses her primary bid, she would be the third incumbent to lose in a primary this year after Utah Republican Bob Bennet lost to a challenger from the right, and newly turned Democrat Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania who lost a challenge from House Rep. Joe Sestak.

Other races on the radar is the South Carolina race for Governor with challenger Nikki Haley out in front by 20 points even after a blogger claimed they had an affair, and another man who claimed a one night stand with her in Salt Lake city.  There really isn't much evidence that either claim is true and the attack seems to have backfired, perhaps because South Carolinians are very tired of caring of who sleeps with whom after Governor Mark Sandford's trips along the Appalachian Trail.

Another interesting race is the Nevada Republican Senate primary to determine who will run against Harry Reid in November.  Sharon Angle is the current favourite for a primary victory being backed by the Tea Party and is followed by Danny Tarkanian, and the former leader of the pack Sue Lowden whose campaign imploded when she suggested, not once but twice, we should consider the bartering system to pay for health-care.  The really interesting thing is that at one point anyone of these three GOP challengers could have easily defeated current Senate majority leader Harry Reid in the midterms, but between self inflicted disasters and extreme tea party ideas, Reid has actually retaken the lead in polling over all three. 

In any event we'll keep you updated on how it all shakes out.

UPDATE: Of the major races going on today, Nikki Haley is standing at 47% of the vote with 44% of the precincts calling in which pretty much means she's easily won her primary to run for Governor of south Carolina for the Republicans.  She was able to weather accusations of infidelity which voters apparently felt were a distraction and could become South Carolina's first female Governor.  Unless of course she doesn't reach 50% of the vote and a run off is triggered.

UPDATE #2: Nikki Haley did not reach the 50% threshold to avoid a runoff.  She currently has about 49% of the vote but will now have to face Gresham Barrett in a runoff on June 22nd.

UPDATE #3: Politico has just announced that Blanche Lincoln has been declared the winner of her primary race against Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter.  The general consensus had been that she would lose the race, but it looks like that was a bad bet.  The odds are still against any Democrat winning this seat, including the likelihood of Senator Lincoln winning her own seat back.

UPDATE #4: The AP via Fox News has called Meg Whitman the winner over Steve Poizner for the Republicans to run against Democrat Jerry Brown for Governor of California.

UPDATE #5:  The AP is reporting via MSNBC that Carly Fiorina has won the GOP primary for the Senate in California.

UPDATE #6:  The AP via Fox News has called Sharron Angle as the winner of the Nevada GOP Senate race.  She will be running against Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid in what was expected to be a GOP win no matter who ran, but is now competitive once again because of Angle's extreme views.