Can Dunmire Channel O'Donnell? Caputo Guides Paladino to Victory

Tea party activists hailed the defeat of two establishment Republicans up North.

Christine O'Donnell defeated nine-term Rep. Mike Castle for the Republican nomination for Joe Biden's Senate seat in Delaware. And Carl Paladino beat former Rep. Rick Lazio for the GOP nomination for New York governor.

Both O'Donnell and Paladino ran insurgent campaigns against well-known Republicans -- and their outsider, come-from-behind tactics heartened Florida TEA Party chairman Fred O'Neal.

By O'Neal's count, Castle's defeat represented "the eighth straight loss for the 'establishment' GOP candidate and one of the final nails in the coffin of the liberal national and state GOP leadership."

Calling GOP congressional candidate Daniel Webster "the Mike Castle of Florida" and likening Florida TEA candidate Peg Dunmire to O'Donnell, O'Neal said, "This gives Peg Dunmire a huge push into the general electionfor the 8th Congressional District.

"This is the year of the Tea Party woman and it bodes well for Peg as the first TEA Party congressional nominee on any general election ballot," O'Neal said.

Notable: South Florida Republican political consultant Mike Caputo managed Paladino's primary victory in New York.