Chafee wins as nine US states hold primaries

WASHINGTON, Sep 13 (Reuters) Moderate Republican Sen Lincoln Chafee, a frequent foe of President George W Bush's policies, beat a conservative primary challenger in a race crucial to Republican hopes of retaining Senate control in November's election.

Chafee's win over Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey yesterday in heavily Democratic Rhode Island was good news for national Republicans, who had rallied to his defense because they believed his moderate views offered the best chance to keep the seat out of Democratic hands.

With polls beginning to close on the busiest primary day of the year, Maryland Democrats were settling a crowded battle for a nominee to replace retiring Sen. Paul Sarbanes, while Democrats in the District of Columbia essentially picked the capital city's next mayor.

With nominal opposition, Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York easily won the party's nomination for a second Senate term in what could be a tune-up for a potential 2008 White House bid.

Scores of other contested nominations for Senate, House of Representatives and governor's offices also will be decided in Arizona, Delaware, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin and Washington, D C.

The primaries set the stage for November's battle for control of Congress, when Democrats are trying to pick up the six Senate seats and 15 House seats that will give them majorities in each chamber.

Chafee avoided becoming the second incumbent US senator to lose a primary in as many months. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a former Democratic vice presidential candidate, lost his party's August primary in Connecticut to an anti-war challenger.

BREAKS WITH BUSH Chafee, the only Republican to vote against the Iraq war, angered some Republicans by breaking with Bush on a range of issues from tax cuts to conservative Samuel Alito's Supreme Court nomination.

He faced a challenge on the right from Laffey in a primary where the state's small number of Republican voters, as well as unpredictable turnout among independents who can vote in the primary, made the result hard to gauge.

Laffey said Chafee is a big spender who is out of touch with Rhode Island, and the two candidates and their supporters pummeled each other in a series of harsh television ads. The Republican winner faces Democratic nominee Sheldon Whitehouse in November.

In Maryland, 18 candidates slugged it out for the Democratic Senate nomination, with Rep. Ben Cardin and former Rep. Kweisi Mfume leading the pack for the right to face Republican nominee Lt Gov Michael Steele Cardin opened a wide lead on Mfume in early returns.

In Washington, D C, city council member Adrian Fenty won the Democratic nomination for mayor over council chairwoman Linda Cropp.

The nomination is tantamount to election in the overwhelmingly Democratic city.

Arizona features crowded primaries for both parties in the race to replace retiring Republican Jim Kolbe in a district bordering Mexico. National Republican leaders have backed moderate state Rep.

Steve Huffman in the race over anti-immigration activist Randy Graf, believing Huffman offers them the best shot at a win.

The parties also will pick candidates in competitive Senate races in Arizona and Minnesota, and in other key House races in Wisconsin, New York and Minnesota.

REUTERS PDM PM0913