The 2014 United States Senate election in Mississippi will take place on November 4,
2014.
Incumbent Republican Senator Thad Cochran, who has served in the position since 1978,
is running for re-election to a seventh term.
Background Thad Cochran was first elected to the Senate
with a plurality of the vote in a three-way race in 1978.
He has been re-elected with at least 61% of the vote ever since, in 1984, 1990, 1996,
2002 and 2008.
Until December 2013, Cochran was the last incumbent Senator up for re-election in 2014
who had not declared his plans.
He refused to say whether he would run for re-election, and this caused widespread speculation
that he would retire.
Despite being urged to declare his intentions, Cochran said in August 2013, "I don’t have
a fixed date.
But [I will decide] by the end of the year.
You don’t want to rush into these things."
On November 12, he announced that he would reveal his plans by the end of the month.
On December 6, it was confirmed that he would be running for re-election.
Cochran's fundraising ability, powerful Senate committee assignments and very high approval
ratings mean that he was dubbed "unbeatable".
Mississippi Democratic Party Chairman Rickey Cole said that "in the very likely event that
he does [run], we don't foresee a major Democratic challenger emerging."
Had he chosen to retire, a "stampede" was predicted in the Republican primary and Democrats
believed that a "properly-positioned" candidate could have been competitive in the general
election.
Republican primary
State Senator Chris McDaniel, a Tea Party supporter, declared his candidacy for the
seat on October 17, 2013.
He was immediately endorsed by the Club for Growth and Ken Cuccinelli's Senate Conservatives
Fund.
McDaniel was initially reported to have no chance of beating Cochran in the primary,
as summed up by the Jackson Free Press, which remarked that if McDaniel faced Cochran, it
would be the "beginning of [the] end of [his] political career".
Republican lobbyist Henry Barbour, the nephew of former Governor Haley Barbour, said: "I
think he will get his head handed to him, and that will be what he deserves.
[But] it's a free country."
McDaniel was believed to have declared his candidacy in the hope that Cochran would choose
not to run, giving him "first crack" at the support of Tea Party groups and donors before
a competitive primary.
On December 6, media sources confirmed that Cochran would run for re-election.
McDaniel was Cochran's first primary opponent since 1996, when Cochran won with 95% of the
vote.
Although the race was initially considered uncompetitive, McDaniel was a serious challenger.
Polling showed the lead swinging between the two of them and it was considered to be a
"50%-50% race".
The race was considered to be a marquee establishment-versus-Tea Party fight, It was considered significant
because Mississippi is the poorest state, and Cochran's seniority and appropriation
skills contrasts with the junior status of the rest of the state's congressional delegation.
McDaniel was endorsed by politicians including Sarah Palin and Rick Santorum, and organisations
including Citizens United, Club for Growth, FreedomWorks, Madison Project, National Association
for Gun Rights, Senate Conservatives Fund and Tea Party Express.
By contrast, the Republican establishment rallied around Cochran, who was also endorsed
by the National Rifle Association and National Right to Life.
The race had been compared to the 2012 Indiana Republican primary, when Tea Party candidate
Richard Mourdock defeated six-term incumbent Richard Lugar, before losing to Democratic
nominee Joe Donnelly because of his right-wing positions.
Likely Democratic nominee Travis Childers was considered to have a chance to "take advantage
of any opening" if McDaniel won.
The race was described as a "nasty" one, full of "bizarre" twists.
McDaniel's campaign attacked Cochran for being "an out-of-touch, big-spending Washington
insider" and Cochran's replied that "McDaniel’s voting record in the state Senate does not
match his conservative rhetoric."
Both sides have accused the other of distortions and outright lies.
Cochran ran on his incumbency, seniority and the fact that he would become the Chairman
of the Senate Appropriations Committee if the Republicans took back control of the Senate.
In addition to ideological differences, the race highlighted geographic divides in the
state Republican Party.
No candidate received than 50% of the vote, so a runoff between McDaniel and Cochran was
held on June 24, 2014.
Cochran narrowly defeated McDaniel by 7,000 votes.
McDaniel refused to concede the race and challenged the results.
His campaign filed a notice of intent to contest the election, and groups working on behalf
of McDaniel filed two lawsuits to contest the election.
On Thursday, June 24, McDaniel announced he was offering a $1,000 reward for proof of
voter fraud in the run-off election.
Scandals A scandal arose when a supporter of McDaniel
allegedly entered a nursing home where Cochran's bedridden wife was living and took pictures
of her.
He posted them as part of a video to his blog, intending to advance the rumour that Cochran
was having affairs while his wife was receiving care.
Four people have been arrested in connection with the incident.
A third candidate, Thomas Carey, introduced a risk that neither Cochran nor McDaniel would
win a majority.
A second scandal emerged during the primary where the Race card was played to help Cochran
win, using such "code words" as "food stamps".
As evidence has continued to mount, charges first surfaced that a small group of elderly
Democratic female activists, calling themselves "Citizens for Progress," were behind racist
ads promoting Cochran.
The Clarion Ledger newspaper reported that money trails show the money was transferred
from Mississippi Conservatives PAC to Citizens for Progress multiple times.
Henry Barbour had claimed that Citizens for Progress were behind the controversy.
Cochran's campaign was reported to have sent robocalls to African-American households before
the primary.
Ed Martin, chairman of the Missouri Republican Party, wrote an op-ed calling for the censure
of Barbour for his role in funding the race-based ads, as well as the censure of "any Republicans
who were involved in" them.
His efforts to gain censure of Barbour at the annual meeting of the Republican Party
were unsuccessful, although members discussed the issues.
Senator Ted Cruz appeared on the Mark Levin Show to discuss the Mississippi Primary.
He called for an investigation, saying that "the ads they ran were racially-charged false
attacks".
Candidates Declared
Thomas Carey Thad Cochran, incumbent U.S. Senator
Chris McDaniel, State Senator Declined
Haley Barbour, former Governor of Mississippi Phil Bryant, Governor of Mississippi
Philip Gunn, Speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives
Gregg Harper, U.S. Representative Delbert Hosemann, Secretary of State of Mississippi
Alan Nunnelee, U.S. Representative Steven Palazzo, U.S. Representative
Stacey E. Pickering, State Auditor of Mississippi Michael K. Randolph, Justice on the Supreme
Court of Mississippi Tate Reeves, Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi
Amy Tuck, former Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi Michael Watson, State Senator
Endorsements Polling
Results Runoff
Polling Results
Democratic primary Former Congressman Travis Childers stated
that he was interested in running, particularly if Thad Cochran retires.
With Cochran facing a competitive primary, Childers announced he was running.
Candidates Declared
Travis Childers, former U.S. Representative William Bond Compton, Jr., candidate for Governor
of Mississippi in 2007 and 2011 Bill Marcy, former police officer and Republican
nominee for the 2nd congressional district in 2010 and 2012
Jonathan Rawl Declined
David Baria, State Representative Jim Hood, Mississippi Attorney General
Bill Luckett, Mayor of Clarksdale and candidate for Governor in 2011
Ray Mabus, United States Secretary of the Navy and former Governor of Mississippi
Connie Moran, Mayor of Ocean Springs Ronnie Musgrove, former Governor of Mississippi
and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2008 Brandon Presley, Commissioner for the Northern
District of the Mississippi Public Service Commission
Gene Taylor, former U.S. Representative Bennie Thompson, U.S. Representative
Results General election
Campaign Democratic nominee Travis Childers has concentrated
on the general election by describing himself as a "disenchanted" Democrat, highlighting
his vote against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and his opposition to
new gun control measures and same-sex marriage.
Polling See also
United States Senate elections, 2014 United States elections, 2014
References
External links U.S. Senate elections in Mississippi, 2014
at Ballotpedia Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org