Four-term Alabama Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby easily beat his primary challenger, tea party activist N.C. "Clint" Moser.
Shelby was drawing more than 80 percent of the votes in the unofficial count Tuesday evening.
Two first-time candidates, Bill Barnes of Birmingham and Simone De Moore of Mobile, are running to become the Democratic nominee. Shelby is favored over either one.
Shelby, 76, was first elected to the Senate in 1986 as a Democrat and re-elected in 1992. He switched to the GOP in 1994 when Republicans took control of Congress and won re-election in 1998 and 2004 by 2-to-1 margins against Democrats.
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