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Defining battles in a Republican Party feud will play out during the next month in primaries that will help determine control of the U.S. Senate and shape the partys priorities before the 2016 presidential campaign.

Starting with North Carolinas election tomorrow, these contests will decide whether the business-backed wing of the party has regained momentum over the limited-government Tea Party movement after a split erupted last year between the two over the importance of lifting the nations debt ceiling.

Its show time, said Scott Reed, a political strategist for the Washington-based U.S. Chamber of Commerce. May and early June is a critical time for candidate selection, if were going to have success in the fall.

Candidates supported by the chamber, the nations largest business lobbying group, and its Republican allies are holding an advantage on the eve of the first test, after applying lessons learned from fights with the Tea Party in the 2010 and 2012 elections that likely cost the party control of the Senate.

Its hard to see a scenario where we have the types of primary outcomes that can cost us seats this cycle, said Brian Walsh, a strategist and former spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Generally, every incumbent early on recognized that they had to prepare for a primary. They raised the money, they organized early and they put together strong campaign teams.

Walsh downplayed the importance of the Tea Party-aligned groups in Republican politics.

Their influence in terms of on-the-ground activity and spending money is greatly overstated, he said. They dont raise or spend a whole lot of money on races. Their influence has generally been in the echo chamber, with talk radio and blogs.

Sal Russo, chief strategist of the Sacramento, California-based Tea Party Express, a political action committee, said its too early to write off the movement.

Some of the more establishment candidates are going to win in some states and some Tea Party candidates are going to win in some other states, he said.

Reed, Walsh and other Republicans are working to avoid the nomination of candidates who are untested and vulnerable to losing to Democrats in the November general election.

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Republican Civil War Peaks as Primaries Test Tea Party