Ms Geraldine Ferraro, the only woman in the US to have to run on a presidential ticket, has lost her comeback bid in the US Senate race in New York and has declared that her political career is over.
Ms Ferraro was picked by Mr Walter Mondale as the Democratic vice-presidential candidate in 1984. She lost her political comeback bid decisively. Mr Charles Schumer won 50 per cent of the vote to Ms Ferraro's 27 per cent and will face the Republican incumbent, Senator Alfonse d'Amato, in the mid-term elections on November 3rd.
"Now my campaign for US Senate and for any future elective office ends," a visibly downcast Ms Ferraro said. Mr Mondale and Ms Ferraro lost to Mr Ronald Reagan and Mr George Bush in the 1984 presidential election and Ms Ferraro's last Senate bid in 1992 also ended in defeat.
As Ms Ferraro left the political stage, another famous name in politics took centre stage in Minnesota. Mr Hubert Humphrey III, son of the former vice-president, won the Democratic nomination for governor.
Mr Humphrey, the state attorney general who won a reputation as a fierce fighter against the tobacco industry, will face the mayor of St Paul, Mr Norm Coleman, in November.
Voters in nine states and the District of Columbia voted in primaries and run-offs on Tuesday against the background of the scandal threatening President Clinton's political future.
In Washington DC, Democrats nominated a former city financial officer, Mr Anthony Williams, to be their next mayor. Mr Williams is virtually assured of election in November in the overwhelmingly Democratic city. The election marked the end of an era in which Mr Marion Barry, a colourful and controversial figure, dominated Washington politics, serving four terms as mayor and one term in jail on a drugs conviction.
In Oklahoma a dead housewife, Ms Jacquelyn Ledgerwood, still managed to take almost a quarter of the vote in a Democratic senatorial run-off, but was beaten by a businessman, Mr Don Carroll.
Ms Ledgerwood (69) died six weeks before an August primary but too late to be taken off the ballot and made the run-off to decide who faces the Republican, Senator Don Nickles. On Tuesday she polled nearly 39,000 votes.
In Massachusetts the acting Governor, Mr Paul Cellucci, won the Republican nomination for a full term in the governor's mansion and will face the state attorney general, Mr Scott Harshbarger, who won the Democratic nomination.
The two prosecutors who gained international exposure prosecuting Ms Louise Woodward for killing baby Matthew Eappen also ran in Tuesday's primaries in Massachusetts. Ms Martha Coakley, whose job was to dissect defence medical testimony during the Woodward trial, easily defeated two opponents to capture the Democratic nomination for Middlesex County District Attorney. A win in the Democratic primary is tantamount to election in November.
Ms Coakley's former boss, the current Middlesex District Attorney, Mr Thomas Reilly, narrowly defeated his rival for the Democratic nomination for Attorney-General of Massachusetts.
In the race for governor of New York, the Democratic nomination went to the New York City Council speaker, Mr Peter Vallone. He will face the Republican Governor, Mr George Pataki.