LINCOLN, Neb., May 15 (UPI) -- State Sen. Deb Fischer and state Attorney General Jon Bruning were locked in a tight race for the GOP Senate nomination in Nebraska's Tuesday primary election.
With 77 percent of the state's precincts reporting, the Nebraska Secretary of State's office said Fischer had 40.18 percent of Republican votes cast, to 36.07 percent for Bruning. The winner will face off against former U.S. Sen. Bob Kerrey in the general election in November.
Kerrey was headed for an easy victory in the Democratic primary Tuesday, with 79 percent of the votes cast.
The winner will succeed Sen. Ben Nelson, a Democrat who is retiring after his current term.
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney was an easy winner in the Nebraska primary with 71 percent of the vote, while President Barack Obama got 99 percent of the votes cast in the state's Democratic primary.
Thirty-five delegates to the Republican nomination convention in August in Tampa, Fla., were at stake in Nebraska. As of Thursday, CBSNews.com indicated Romney had 934 delegates to 92 for U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, who has suspended his campaign for the presidential nomination.
