WASHINGTON — The victory notched by Tea Party Republicans in the Nebraska Senate race was modest, but they’ll take it in a season that has yielded few bright spots so far.

Ben Sasse won the GOP nomination for the seat being vacated by Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb. Sasse was the closest thing to a tea party candidate in the three-man race, largely because he feuded last fall with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the epitome of establishment Republicanism.

But Sasse is hardly the out-of-right-field firebrand that some Tea Partyers cherish. A college president with degrees from Harvard and Yale, he worked for the U.S. departments of Justice and Health and Human Services. Those endorsing him ranged from non-mainstream players — including Sarah Palin and the Club for Growth — to well-established Republicans such as five-term Rep. Jeff Fortenberry and former Gov. Kay Orr.

Sasse, 42, had “visiting scholar status” at the Brookings Institution, the venerated left-of-center think tank near the White House.

Several factors make the Nebraska results rather weak tea for tea party celebrations. Sasse’s conservative credentials don’t differ greatly from his opponents’, especially Shane Osborn. Osborn had the conservative group FreedomWorks’ endorsement before it was switched to Sasse.