McDaniel may fight Mississippi GOP Senate primary loss in court

WASHINGTON – Sen. Thad Cochran’s comeback victory in Mississippi’s Republican Senate primary hardened the differences between the GOP’s tea party and establishment wings Wednesday, raising the threat that the bitterness of the last several months of campaigning could extend into the fall’s general election.

Cochran’s tea party challenger, Chris McDaniel, has refused to concede and in a statement Wednesday afternoon did not rule out the possibility of taking his case to court.

McDaniel and many of his supporters are incensed that Cochran achieved his victory in part by winning votes from Democrats, who were able to take part in the contest because of the state’s open primary law.

Turnout in Tuesday’s runoff was 67,000 votes higher than in the first round of voting earlier this month – a rare occurrence. Some of the biggest increases came in heavily black – and Democratic – areas, particularly in and around Jackson, the capital, and in smaller communities in the state’s Delta region.

“If our party and our conservative movement are to coexist, it is paramount that we ensure the sanctity of the election process is upheld,” McDaniel’s statement said. “We must be absolutely certain that our Republican primary was won by Republican voters.

“In the coming days, our team will look into the irregularities to determine whether a challenge is warranted,” the statement said.

Establishment GOP figures praised Cochran’s victory as an indication of an inclusive campaign. One of the architects of the strategy, Henry Barbour, the nephew of former Mississippi governor and Republican Party Chairman Haley Barbour, said Cochran’s outreach to Democrats was “good for the party” – a way to broaden the GOP’s shrinking base of older, white voters.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., noted that “receiving African-American votes in the Republican primary is no easy thing” and said that “Republicans should celebrate the fact that African-Americans felt good enough about a Republican to think he’s a fair man.”

But tea party activists derided the tactic as a sellout of conservative principles.

“This might be the moment the establishment GOP died,” said Adam Brandon, executive vice president of the tea party group FreedomWorks, which had dozens of volunteers in Mississippi.

“Our base is like, ‘Seriously? You turned to Democrats to win?’ ”

Willie Simmons, a black Democratic state senator who stumped for votes for Cochran in his Delta-area district, said it was unclear whether the Democrats who helped propel Cochran to victory this week would vote for him again in the fall.

“Many of the individuals who voted for Sen. Cochran yesterday had good intentions, wanting to make sure he survived this particular fight,” Simmons said.

Cochran’s long history of supporting community health centers, Head Start preschool programs and a historically black college in the Delta made his appeal an easier sell to Democratic voters, he said.

But, Simmons added, “you will find many individuals who supported him yesterday will go back home, do an assessment, look at the two candidates, will very well go back for the Democratic nominee.”