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Tag: mississippi senate elections 2014
Mississippi Republicans Battle In U.S. Senate Runoff

Mississippi Republicans Battle In U.S. Senate Runoff

Washington (AFP) — Mississippi incumbent Thad Cochran was fighting for his political life in a Republican runoff for his U.S. Senate seat Tuesday, seeking to repulse a surging conservative challenger bucking the party establishment.

A series of primary races are similarly pitting political veterans against relative outsiders, including key contests in Oklahoma, New York, and Colorado, as the fields are sown for the congressional mid-term elections in November.

Republicans are widely expected to retain control of the House of Representatives, and with President Barack Obama’s Democrats struggling to hold the Senate, the GOP is pouring efforts into this year’s campaigns in hopes of winning both chambers of Congress.

Such an outcome would all but doom any legislative agenda Obama would want to achieve in his final two years in the White House.

Tuesday’s main event is in the southern Gulf Coast Republican stronghold of Mississippi, where 76-year-old Cochran, one of the old-guard gentlemen of the Senate, was forced into a runoff this month by state senator Chris McDaniel, a radio talk-show host backed by the anti-tax, small-government Tea Party movement.

All eyes are on the state to see if veteran Cochran goes down, much like House Majority Leader Eric Cantor lost his seat earlier this month to a little-known conservative professor in their Virginia primary.

That outcome sent shock waves through Washington, and empowered Tea Party-backed candidates angling for their own upsets against Republican incumbents.

With anti-Washington animosity sky-high, members of the GOP establishment have rushed to Cochran’s rescue, including 2008 presidential nominee Senator John McCain who hailed Cochran’s record on military issues.

McCain’s running mate, Sarah Palin, by contrast, campaigned in Mississippi last month for McDaniel.

The race has emerged as one of the most expensive primaries ever, with outside groups pouring money into both campaigns.

Cochran, nicknamed the Senate’s “King of Pork,” has been accused of squandering taxpayer money by funneling millions of dollars per year in earmarks to his state, something McDaniel has seized on while campaigning.

“This is pretty simple,” McDaniel reportedly wrote in a fundraising email.

“If you think we should keep the same guys in office that supported these outrageous spending sprees, then listen to John McCain and support Thad Cochran.”

In New York, veteran Democrat Charlie Rangel faces the toughest re-election fight of his 22-term career, in a rematch of the 2012 primary against state senator Adriano Espaillat.

Rangel, 84, leads in polls, but should he lose it would mark the end of an era in New York politics.

In Oklahoma, two-term Republican congressman James Lankford is favored to win retiring Senator Tom Coburn’s seat, but he faces strong opposition from T.W. Shannon, an African-American member of the Chickasaw Nation and former speaker of the statehouse.

AFP Photo / Justin Sullivan

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GOP Clash In Mississippi Comes Down To Undecided Voters — Who May Not Vote

GOP Clash In Mississippi Comes Down To Undecided Voters — Who May Not Vote

By David Lightman, McClatchy Washington Bureau

D’LO, Miss. — The closing days of the Mississippi Republican Senate campaign are a town-by-town search for elusive votes, and places such as little Simpson County matter.

This cluster of small cities and wide open green spaces just south of Jackson was closely divided between Sen. Thad Cochran and challenger Chris McDaniel in the June 3 primary. That’s why their legions are furiously searching for the handful of votes that can make a difference.

For all the high-tech data mining and big-time spending, no one really knows how to convince the wafflers or motivate the stay-at-homes. So much is unpredictable here, and for that matter much of the state.

How many will turn out? Who will turn out? Will Democrats show up and side with Cochran? Does the push by the Tea Party and stars like Sarah Palin and Ron Paul help or hurt?

On one level, this runoff is a huge deal nationally, since conservative groups have made it a major test of their clout after setbacks in other states. But the race is at its core a very local contest in a state where people take their politics personally.

Cochran, 76, has been a Senator for nearly 36 years. He’s an important advocate for Mississippi in Washington and a first-class ambassador for a state whose image seems to always need a boost.

“Thad Cochran has always been a Southern gentleman,” said Ruby Ainsworth, a Braxton housewife. “He’s never done anything to embarrass us.”

Cochran campaigns the old-fashioned way. His red, white, and blue signs gently rise up from shopping center corners and highway exits. He rides around the state in his “Thad” bus, appearing at car dealerships, restaurants, and other down-home venues.

A local official usually introduces him and ticks off all he’s done for the area. In Magee, Simpson County’s biggest city (about 5,000), Cochran met about 50 people at a Peoples Bank conference room earlier this week.

Brad White, a former state party chairman, recited the Cochran list: remodeling the county courthouse, improving Highway 49, helping schools. “It’s imperative we keep him where he is,” White implored.

Cochran spoke for about five minutes with no notes. He talked about the value of getting along with others, occasionally jabbing at McDaniel but not naming him.

It plays well in some circles. “I trust him,” said Danny Powell, a D’Lo minister.

Yet Cochran’s approach might do little to stir turnout from voters who just voted in the primary June 3 and in McComb, faced local elections Tuesday.

“It’s mind boggling,” said Magee Mayor Jimmy Clyde of the political saturation. “And typically in a second election people don’t come out.”

McDaniel, 41, by contrast oozes energy and momentum. An army of volunteers vows to knock on as many as 8,000 doors a day. Conservative hero Rick Santorum is campaigning for him. Palin, the Republicans’ 2008 vice presidential nominee, and Paul, the libertarian hero, have led rallies.

McDaniel’s speech to about 200 people Wednesday night at the Pearl community center featured 25 minutes of calls for more liberty and economic freedom. He took on Cochran, who calls McDaniel dangerous. “Do I look dangerous to you?” the boyish McDaniel asked. The crowd roared with laughter.

Screenshot via WAPT News

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