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After a bruising nine-week runoff campaign, Georgia Republicans will finally have their Senate nominee who will compete against Democrat Michelle Nunn for a seat the GOP can ill afford to lose as the party looks to take control of the chamber. Voters head to the polls Tuesday to decide between Rep. Jack Kingston and businessman David Perdue after a closely watched campaign shaped largely by each candidate's personal history rather than the issues. The two are both conservatives in a state that has been dominated in recent years by Republicans who hold every statewide office. Instead, the race has focused on whether Kingston's 11 terms in Congress are an asset or a liability, a sign that he's a proven and trusted conservative or part of the gridlock in Washington. Perdue, the former CEO of Dollar General and Reebok, has hammered Kingston as a career politician who hasn't accomplished much in 22 years in Congress. His TV ads have depicted politicians as crying babies who've had their chance to fix the problems in Washington.

Amid a swirl of foreign and border challenges, President Barack Obama is embarking on the one mission that has regularly proved a winner for him — raising money for his fellow Democrats. Obama on Tuesday was starting a three-day West Coast trip, scheduled to attend at least five fundraising events in Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles less than four months ahead of midterm elections that could change Washington's balance of power. The trip comes as Obama is dealing with a series of high-profile tests of his presidency, from Eastern Europe to the Middle East to the Southern U.S. border. The downing of a Malaysian airliner over Ukraine last week, the eruption of war in Gaza between Israelis and Palestinians, and the humanitarian crisis caused by the influx of Central American minors seeking to cross the border has put a strain on the White House. But on the fundraising trail Obama remains a potent draw among the Democratic Party's wealthy donors, who pay up to $32,400 to be in intimate settings with the president.

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