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In this March 12, 2014 photo Nebraska Republican Senate candidate Ben Sasse laughs on the campaign trail in Elmwood, Neb. AP Photo/Nati Harnik

The victory notched by tea party Republicans in the Nebraska Senate race was modest, but they'll take it in a season that has yielded few bright spots so far.

Ben Sasse won the GOP nomination for the seat being vacated by Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb. Sasse was the closest thing to a tea party candidate in the three-man race, largely because he feuded last fall with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the epitome of establishment Republicanism.

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Sasse, 42, had "visiting scholar status" at the Brookings Institution, the venerated left-of-center think tank near the White House.

Several factors make the Nebraska results rather weak tea for tea party celebrations. Sasse's conservative credentials don't differ greatly from his opponents', especially Shane Osborn. Osborn had the conservative group FreedomWorks' endorsement before it was switched to Sasse.

And Nebraska is so strongly Republican that party leaders felt confident that any GOP nominee will defeat the Democratic candidate, Omaha lawyer Dave Domina, and then vote the party line in Washington.

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Tea party pulls out a modest victory in Nebraska