Tea Party-backed candidates did not fare well in U.S. Senate primary elections on Tuesday, leaving some to wonder whether the movement has enough momentum left to exert any influence in the upcoming Kansas primaries.

“With (Mississippi Sen. Thad) Cochran’s win the national ‘tea party’ groups will need to make a major strategic decision: do they soldier on to Kansas and Tennessee over the next five weeks, or do they call it quits for this primary election cycle,” Kansas GOP executive director Clay Barker said in an email after Tuesday’s results were announced.

“Gentleman Thad” Cochran is a six-term incumbent who is known for his ability to bring federal dollars back to his home state, which receives more federal spending per tax dollar paid than any other state but New Mexico. But he was forced into a runoff after the June 10 primary produced no clear winner between him and his Tea Party challenger, Chris McDaniel.

McDaniel finished the primary slightly ahead of Cochran, 49.5 to 49 percent, a margin of about 1,400 votes. But in Mississippi’s open primary system, where anybody can vote regardless of party affiliation, Cochran was able to expand the vote base in the runoff by campaigning to Democrats and independents, who reportedly turned out for him in great numbers.

“Dr. Milton Wolf Congratulates Thad Cochran on Winning the Democratic Primary in Mississippi,” read the headline of a news release from the Kansas Tea Party candidate trying to unseat three-term incumbent Pat Roberts in the upcoming Kansas primary.

Meanwhile in Oklahoma, there was a special primary election to pick candidates to fill the unexpired term of retiring Sen. Tom Coburn. The two main candidates in the seven-way race were U.S. Rep. Jim Lankford, a longtime director of a large Christian youth camp who was widely seen as the “establishment” candidate, and the Tea Party-backed T.W. Shannon, a former speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives.

According to one analysis, Shannon, a member of the Chickasaw Nation, which operates numerous casinos in Oklahoma, was thought to have a financial edge. But Lankford had the backing — and organizational muscle — of the state’s religious right. In the end, Lankford came out ahead, 57-34 percent over Shannon.

In Kansas, Wolf has spent much of the campaign issuing blistering attacks on almost a daily basis, criticizing Roberts for being in Washington too long, for not maintaining a real Kansas residence, and for having supported the nomination of former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat, to be secretary of Health and Human Services, where she oversaw the initial implementation of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

But Wolf’s campaign has also faltered at times. Most notably, in February, Wolf was forced to apologize after it was reported that he had posted graphic X-rays of gunshot victims on a Facebook page.

“Kansans are concerned about his bizarre behavior and about his lapses of medical ethics that have embarrassed not only Republicans, but also the state as a whole,” Roberts said in a statement released Tuesday.