opponent for governor, rick lazio, who had the gop s backing. kelly ayotte, is in a neck and neck fight with tea party favorite ovide lamontagne. for details on these and other races, emily schmidt has been tracking the overnight numbers. emily, good morning. reporter: good morning to you. usually, the day after the primary, we are talking about the matchups set between republicans and democrats. but this morning, it s a different story. it s a difference between the tea party surge and the republican establishment. last night, the tea party pulled off some huge surprises. one of the nation s smallest states is now home to one of the year s largest political upsets. no more politics as usual. reporter: christine o donnell, a candidate who had run and lost twice for senate before, won this time. she beat long-term congressman and political moderate, mike castle, with the backing of the tea party and sarah palin. thank you, governor palin, for your endorsement. th