JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground
HTML
<link rel="stylesheet" href="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jqueryui/1.8.4/themes/ui-lightness/jquery-ui.css">
<ul class="clearfix" id="topnav">
<li class="mainNavFirst"><a href="/"> Our Home</a></li> <!-- bold this 'our' -->
<li class="mainNavMiddle"><a href="#">Lorem Ipsum</a><!-- bold this 'Lorem' -->
<div>
<ul>
<li class="sectionTitle">
<h2><a href="#">Ipsum Lorem</a></h2>
</li>
<li><a href="#">Just a random link</a></li>
<li><a href="#">Just a random link</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li class="sectionTitle">
<h2><a href="#">Ipsum Lorem</a></h2>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</li>
<li class="mainNavLast"><a href="#">Another Link</a></li><!-- bold this 'Another' -->
</ul>
CSS
#topnav span {
font-weight:bold;
}
JavaScript
$('#topnav > li > a').html(function(i,html){
return html.replace(/^\s*([^\s]+)(\s|$)/, '<span>$1 </span>');
});