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NASHVILLE U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and his Democratic challenger, Gordon Ball, finally share something in common.

Both now have controversies on their hands.

In Alexander's case, he is facing renewed criticism from his vanquished GOP primary rival, tea party conservative Joe Carr, who so far has refused to endorse him.

And Carr says he doesn't plan to unless the two-term senator reverses what Carr calls Alexander's support of "amnesty" for illegal immigrants and controversial Common Core education standards.

Ball, meanwhile, has his own problem. He's grappling with a story that appeared on the website BuzzFeed on Monday. It accused the successful Knoxville lawyer of plagiarizing language on positions from at least four sitting Democratic senators' websites.

Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Chris Devaney gleefully leaped in and called on Ball to quit the race.

Nothing doing, the Ball campaign said.

In Alexander's case, Carr said Monday that after the Aug. 7 primary he met with Alexander in a Murfreesboro restaurant. He recalled telling the senator "you're completely out of touch" on illegal immigration and Common Core.

"I need you to modify your support," Carr said he told Alexander. "He said that's great" and replied Carr should speak with David Cleary, Alexander's Senate chief of staff.

Carr said he later did just that and thought "we were making progress. But I haven't heard anything back since, and they haven't pursued it."

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Controversies erupt for both Alexander and rival Ball in Senate race