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STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Washington (CNN) -- It's no secret that a battle has boiled over in the Republican Party.

The fight has played out in the policy arena but also on the campaign trail. And since the inception of the tea party in 2009, it seemed like that wing had the upper hand. It slowly made effective inroads into a party many members of the vocal new group thought had lost its way.

They elected a new breed of Republican into office, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who surprised the political world by defeating establishment-backed candidates in their respective primaries.

But those two successes haven't been the norm, especially in the Senate, as many inexperienced but ideologically more pure candidates have been unable to seal the deal.

In 2010, Sharron Angle won the Senate primary in Nevada and Christine O'Donnell won in Delaware. Two years later, Richard Mourdock and Todd Akin won in Indiana and Missouri respectively.

All four went on to lose against the Democrat.

In a year in which Republicans have their best shot in several elections of regaining control of the Senate, party leaders are hoping to avoid general election stumbles.

The Republican establishment is off to a good start this primary season, but it had an easy opener.

Texas Sen. John Cornyn easily won his primary against tea party backed challenger Rep. Steve Stockman, who was largely persona-non-grata during his campaign. Still he spent $2.6 million in the final weeks leading up to the early March primary.

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Establishment Republicans fight back