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Ben Sasse, poised to become the next senator from Nebraska, boasted a long list of national tea party supporters in his Republican primary win Tuesday.聽

For starters, the young university president and former Bush administration official had Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin, Club for Growth, FreedomWorks, and Tea Party Patriots working on his behalf. But already, Mr. Sasse is sounding more like a uniter than a divider within the fractious Republican Party.

At the end of a nasty primary battle, in which Sasse had run afoul of the most powerful Republican in the Senate 鈥� Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, avatar of the Republican establishment 鈥� the Nebraskan pledged to work with him.

But to the national tea party groups, that may not matter. They have avoided the possibility of a primary season without a major victory 鈥� important, if nothing else, to future fundraising. Sasse won 49 percent of the vote.

Banker Sid Dinsdale, who surged late, fell far short with just 22 percent. Former state treasurer, Shane Osborn, whose campaign was hobbled by mistakes, got 21 percent. Sasse is expected to breeze to victory in November, succeeding retiring Sen. Mike Johanns (R).

鈥淥n Wednesday, the tea party groups will jump up and down,鈥� says Republican strategist Ford O鈥機onnell. 鈥淭hey got their guy. But the good thing for Republicans is that Sasse wants to be a serious conservative and a problem-solver.鈥�

As voting was under way Tuesday, Sasse went on national television and called himself a 鈥渢eam player,鈥� pledging that 鈥渁bsolutely鈥� he would back Senator McConnell for leader if he wins reelection.

鈥淚鈥檓 for better conservative ideas and more winsome persuasion,鈥� . 鈥淚鈥檓 a team player and looking forward to supporting whoever our leader is.鈥�

When asked to state explicitly whether that meant he would back McConnell, Sasse said, 鈥淎bsolutely.

McConnell is embroiled in a competitive reelection fight in Kentucky. His tea party primary challenger has faded, but he faces a serious Democratic opponent in November. If McConnell wins, he is poised to become Senate majority leader if Republicans make a net gain of six seats.

Since the Nebraska seat that鈥檚 up for election this cycle is already in Republican hands, and expected to stay there, the primary was effectively seen as the election. To the national Republican 鈥渆stablishment鈥� 鈥� party leaders and committees 鈥� any of the GOP field鈥檚 top three candidates in Nebraska was acceptable.

In January, conservative that Sasse was caught on YouTube last year demanding that 鈥渆very Republican in Washington, starting with Mitch McConnell, show some actual leadership.鈥� That now seems to be water under the bridge.

Sasse wasn鈥檛 endorsed just by tea partyers. Rep. Paul Ryan (R) of Wisconsin, the GOP鈥檚 2012 vice presidential nominee and House Budget Committee chair, also endorsed Sasse.

Further blurring the distinction between tea party and establishment in Nebraska was the fact that many local tea party activists backed Mr. Osborn, and resented what they called meddling by outside groups. Most egregious, in their eyes, was Washington-based FreedomWorks' decision in March to switch its support from Osborn to Sasse.

Osborn was initially seen as the frontrunner for the nomination. Not only had he already won statewide office, but he was also a decorated Navy pilot who made headlines in 2001 when he was detained on Hainan Island in China for 12 days after making an emergency landing.

During the primary, Osborn took a serious blow after his campaign released an official-looking Navy memo about the incident that turned out to have been written by a Navy friend working at the Pentagon. Osborn acknowledged the mistake.

Some Nebraska tea partyers criticized Sasse as a Washington insider, including service as assistant secretary of Health and Human Services in the Bush administration and support for the addition of a prescription-drug program to Medicare. In December 2009, supporting the program,聽but when the Washington Post dug up that piece last November, Sasse鈥檚 campaign said he didn鈥檛 support the drug program.

Sasse, in his early 40s, is now president of Midland University in Fremont, Neb., and has degrees from Harvard, Yale, and St. John鈥檚 College in Maryland.

In other primary action, Omaha businessman Pete Ricketts narrowly won the six-way GOP primary to replace Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman (R), and is expected to win in November. Mr. Ricketts is the son of billionaire GOP donor Joe Ricketts.

The only other state holding primaries Tuesday was West Virginia. Both parties鈥� expected nominees to replace retiring Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D) won their primaries: Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R) and West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant (D). Thus, the state is poised to elect its first woman senator in November. Representative Capito is considered the favorite in increasingly red West Virginia.

In the race to replace Capito in the state鈥檚 Second Congressional District, Republicans nominated the tea party-backed candidate, Alex Mooney, former chairman of the Republican Party in neighboring Maryland. Nick Casey, former chairman of the West Virginia Democratic Party, won his party鈥檚 primary. The November contest should favor the Republican, but the divisive GOP primary gives the Democrat a bit of an opening.