The Wall Street Journal: on Principles & Values

Barbara Bollier: She didn't leave GOP; they left her

Buddy Roemer: Placed third in 1991 re-election bid

Mr. Roemer, who switched from the Democratic to the Republican party while governor, made one more failed run in 1995, then retreated to the private sector.

Buddy Roemer: Publicly described himself as "a church-going Methodist boy"

Roemer talks proudly of his successes in Louisiana: overhauling campaign-finance laws, strengthening environmental protection, testing teachers for competency and balancing the state budget. But he also gained a reputation in the state as arrogant and aloof. "He wouldn't return calls. To anybody," said one state Senator.

Cory Gardner: Giving up Energy Committee seat to run for Senate

Early last year, political handicappers viewed Udall, son of the late Rep. Mo Udall, as in good shape politically. But signs of Udall's political vulnerability grew. Like other Democrats, he drew blame for the troubled rollout of the health-care law. Criticism grew when his office questioned the number of notices the state said people received saying their policies were being canceled because they didn't comply with the standards of the new law. In late January Gardner began to reconsider.

The two leading GOP contenders in the race--Buck and Stephens--withdrew as the news broke about Gardner's decision to run. Still, Gardner expects a tough race. "We don't know if the [political] environment is better," he said. But "it certainly feels like it has turned the corner."

Greg Orman: I've tried both parties and didn't like either

But the businessman, dressed in blue jeans and a tailored blazer, wasn't fazed. Orman took every chance to call Washington broken and point out the long tenure of Roberts there.

Orman repeatedly said he tried both parties and didn't like either. But Roberts wasn't buying it. He pushed for Orman to better define who he would side with in the Senate, asking if he was going to be a Republican one day and a Democrat the next.

Jeff Bell: 1982: ran for Senate; speechwriter for Ronald Reagan

He's not wrong. After winning Tuesday night's four-way Republican primary, Bell, a former speechwriter for Ronald Reagan, will now face Democratic Sen. Cory Booker, the former Newark mayor whose rise to national prominence was in part fueled by his high-volume tweeting. Booker has a whopping 1.47 million followers. Bell has 237.

His lower number isn't surprising--Bell, who is 70 years old, has been out of the game for decades. His last Senate campaign was in 1982, when he lost the Republican primary to former Rep. Millicent Fenwick. Prior to that, he ousted then-Sen. Clifford Case in New Jersey's GOP primary but lost the general election to Bill Bradley.

Jeff Bell: Wife wept upon hearing he would run for Senate

Bell acknowledges that he faces an uphill battle against Booker, in part due to Booker's hefty financial advantage. Booker has $2.9 million in the bank, compared with Bell's $3,976. Still, Bell said, "This was a cause campaign," he said. "So far, at least it's alive."

Joe DioGuardi: Gillibrand had a 2-year tryout; now give me a 2-year tryout

The two are competing to fill out the two years remaining on the Senate term of Hillary Clinton. "Sen. Gillibrand has had her two-year tryout and I believe she has flunked,'' DioGuardi said. "It's time to give Joe DioGuardi a two-year tryout.''

Mike Gravel: Video "Fire" is metaphor for gathering & using experience

Mike Gravel: Video "Rock" is metaphor for causing changes in society

Not at all, replies Gravel, explaining that "It's not a spot" ad but rather the brainchild of a couple of young men from California who sought to film a "metaphor of what they saw me as a person who's thoughtful, who then wanted to make a difference. Throwing a rock in the water was a metaphor for causing ripples and changes in society, and then walking down and disappearing--isn't that what life's about? We start, try to do something, and then go on."

Rex Rammell: Running against Risch for killing his elk herd

Dr. Rammell told reporters at the time that state officials would get the "fight of their lives" and he hoped "to see Jim Risch never gets elected in this state again." One day he staged a sit-in on a fresh elk carcass that officers were trying to remove. His arrest for obstructing justice and subsequent acquittal by jury turned Rex Rammell into a household name.

His legend grew further when, in the middle of the whole episode, his daughter refused to have her picture taken with Mr. Risch after being crowned Miss Idaho USA. "I respect the office but not the man," she says now. "I think he's a weasel."

"The race is clearly a personal vendetta," Risch said.