A tea party victory over the GOP in Louisville

One under-the-radar result in Kentucky is giving Democrats some hope tonight -- Todd Lally, a radio commentator and lieutenant colonel in the Kentucky Air National Guard, easily won the GOP nomination to challenge two-term Rep. Jon Yarmuth (D-Ky.).

The National Republican Congressional Committee had backed Jeff Reetz, a businessman who won the committee's "Young Gun" status for his fundraising but looks set to come in third place in the four-way race. I'm told that the tea party surge for Rand Paul helped Lally lock it in.

If Democrats are overly confident about their chances against Lally, they should remember that Yarmuth himself blew past a lackluster DCCC-endorsed candidate in 2006, and went on to surprise election-watchers by winning the seat.

But Yarmuth was able to spend real money on his race, and Lally enters the general election with around $25,000.