WASHINGTON ? Former Georgia Republican Party chairman Ralph Reed lost his bid for the party's lieutenant governor nomination Tuesday night, the first electoral defeat this year that can be traced directly to the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. Reed conceded defeat to Casey Cagle, a little-known state senator, less than three hours after the polls closed. With 70 percent of precincts reporting, Cagle led by 56 percent to 44 percent. An upbeat Reed told a crowd of a few dozen cheering supporters that his conservative message will live on. "Stay in the fight. Don't retreat. And our values will win in November," he said. The defeat represents an astounding fall for Reed, who presided over the Christian Coalition for most of the 1990s and was regarded as one of the Republicans' rising stars.