United States Senate elections in Mississippi, 2014

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Mississippi's 2014 elections U.S. Senate • U.S. House • State ballot measures • School boards • Judicial • Candidate ballot access

U.S. Senate, Mississippi General Election, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Thad Cochran Incumbent	59.9%	378,481
	Democratic	Travis Childers	37.9%	239,439
	Reform	Shawn O'Hara	2.2%	13,938
Total Votes				631,858
Source: Mississippi Secretary of State Official Results

2014 U.S. Senate Elections in Mississippi

General Election Date November 4, 2014

Primary Date June 3, 2014

November 4 Election Winner: Thad Cochran

Incumbent prior to election: Thad Cochran

Race Ratings Cook Political Report: Likely R[1] Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe R[2]

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2014 U.S. House Elections

Voters in Mississippi elected Thad Cochran (R) to the U.S. Senate in the election on November 4, 2014.

Incumbent Thad Cochran (R), defeated Travis Childers (D) in the November general election. Shawn O'Hara of the Reform Party also ran for Cochran's seat. Cochran faced favorable odds of re-election with Mississippi favoring Republican candidates for the seat. Cook Political Report listed Mississippi as "Likely R" signifying Cochran's advantage. Additionally, Cochran was able to outspend Childers due to having more cash-on-hand in his campaign coffer. Early October polls showed Cochran with a comfortable lead over Childers, further solidifying his position to be re-elected.^[3]

Incumbent Thad Cochran faced a tough challenge in the Republican primary by Chris McDaniel. Although Cochran maintained a lead over McDaniel in terms of campaign finances, the Republican primary polls did not reveal a clear winner. In the Republican primary on June 3, 2014, although McDaniel received slightly more votes than Cochran, he did not receive the 50 percent of votes necessary to win the primary. Candidate Thomas Carey took enough votes to send McDaniel and Cochran into a runoff. McDaniel and Cochran competed one-on-one in the primary runoff on June 24, 2014.

Bill Marcy, Travis Childers, William Bond Compton, Jr. and Jonathan Rawl all competed for the Democratic nomination in the primary.^[4] Marcy ran as a Republican in 2012 and said that he was running in 2014 as a "Plan B" for voters if Cochran won the Republican primary.^[5] Childers easily won Democratic primary, having raised $51,600 in the April Quarterly FEC report and leading in the polls.^[6][7]

Leading up to the runoff, many of the groups that ran ads for Cochran in the primary began to scale back their support. On the one hand, they supported Cochran's platform and believed that Cochran had a better chance of winning in the general election against Childers. On the other hand, these groups believed that running more ads against McDaniel would "only damage the party's ability to beat the Democratic candidate and take over the Senate.^[8] Some groups, such as American Crossroads, withdrew their support from Cochran, stating, "Other than Alaska, we have completed our work on Senate primaries this cycle and are now focused on general elections. With the Chamber, the NRSC, and a local super PAC already backing Cochran, this is not our fight."^[9]

Despite losing supporters and trailing in many runoff polls, Cochran pulled ahead and defeated McDaniel for the Republican nomination. McDaniel, however, did not concede his loss. McDaniel and his supporters said that they found over 1,000 ballots cast for Cochran by voters who had also voted in the Democratic primary. Mississippi law does not require that voters register with the party in order to vote in that primary, but they cannot vote for one party in the primary and a different party in its runoff. The law also states that voters in the primary must intend to support that party in the general election.^[10] On July 1, 2014, a group called True the Vote filed a lawsuit in McDaniel's defense against the Mississippi Secretary of State and the Republican Party of Mississippi.^[11]

On August 4, McDaniel announced that he would challenge the runoff results by calling for a vote from the Mississippi GOP’s central committee during a public hearing, but the GOP chairman refused to hear his case.^[12][13] Then, on August 14, McDaniel officially challenged the election in court, accusing Cochran of "intentional solicitation of Democrat voters to violate State law" and stating that "the permitted unlawful votes produced an outcome that does not express the will of qualified Republican party electors."^[14] Judge Hollis McGehee dismissed the lawsuit on August 29, stating that Mississippi law requires a challenge to be filed within 20 days of the election, and McDaniel missed the deadline.^[15] Judge Nancy Atlas ruled against True the Vote's lawsuit on the same day.^[16]

Candidate Filing Deadline	Primary Election	General Election
March 1, 2014	June 3, 2014	November 4, 2014

Primary: A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Mississippi state law stipulates that an individual can only participate in a party's primary if he or she "intends to support the nominations made in the primary" in which he or she participates. However, this is generally considered an unenforceable requirement. Consequently, Mississippi's primary is effectively open.^{[17][18][19][20]}

Voter registration: To vote in the primary, voters had to register by May 25, 2014. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 5, 2014.^[21]

See also: Mississippi elections, 2014

Incumbent: The election filled the Senate seat held by Thad Cochran (R). Cochran was first elected in 1978.

Candidates[edit]

General election candidates

• Thad Cochrana
• Travis Childers
• Shawn O'Hara (Reform Party)

June 24 Republican runoff primary

Note: No candidate secured more than 50 percent of the vote in the June 3, 2014, primary election. A runoff primary election was held between the top two candidates.^[22][23]

• Chris McDaniel
• Thad Cochrana

June 3, 2014, primary results

Republican Primary Thad Cochran - Incumbent[24]a Chris McDaniel[25]a Thomas Carey

Democratic Primary Bill Marcy[26] Travis Childersa William Bond Compton, Jr. Jonathan Rawl

General election results[edit]

The state of Mississippi held an election for the U.S. Senate on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Thad Cochran (R) defeated challengers Travis Childers (D) and Shawn O'Hara (RP) in the general election.

U.S. Senate, Mississippi General Election, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Thad Cochran Incumbent	59.9%	378,481
	Democratic	Travis Childers	37.9%	239,439
	Reform	Shawn O'Hara	2.2%	13,938
Total Votes				631,858
Source: Mississippi Secretary of State Official Results

Primary results[edit]

U.S. Senate, Mississippi Republican Primary, 2014
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Chris McDaniel	49.5%	157,733
Thad Cochran Incumbent	49%	156,315
Thomas Carey	1.5%	4,854
Total Votes		318,902
Source: Mississippi Secretary of State - Official Republican primary results

U.S. Senate, Mississippi Democratic Primary, 2014
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Travis Childers	74%	63,548
Bill Marcy	12.1%	10,361
William Bond Compton, Jr.	9.9%	8,465
Jonathan Rawl	4.1%	3,492
Total Votes		85,866
Source: Mississippi Secretary of State - Official Democratic primary results

Runoff results[edit]

U.S. Senate, Mississippi Runoff Republican Primary, 2014
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Thad Cochran Incumbent	51%	194,932
Chris McDaniel	49%	187,265
Total Votes		382,197
Source: Mississippi Secretary of State - Official Republican runoff primary results

Legal challenges to Republican runoff[edit]

See also: Legal challenges to the U.S. Senate race in Mississippi

Mississippi's 2014 U.S. Senate election gained nation-wide media attention when accusations of voter fraud in the Republican runoff primary between incumbent Thad Cochran and challenger Chris McDaniel created hostilities within the GOP, eventually leading to two separate legal challenges.

1. True the Vote filed a lawsuit against the Mississippi Secretary of State and the Republican Party of Mississippi, arguing that they were denied access to voting records that should have been released based on the National Voter Registration Act Of 1993 (NVRA).
2. Chris McDaniel filed a lawsuit against incumbent Thad Cochran, stating that Cochran solicited Democratic votes, many of which violated Mississippi election law.

Timeline of events[edit]

• June 3, 2014: McDaniel and Cochran competed for the Republican nomination in Mississippi's primary election. McDaniel won 157,733 votes to Cochran's 156,315, but McDaniel did not obtain the 50 percent of votes necessary to avoid a runoff election.^[27]

• June 24, 2014: Cochran defeated McDaniel in the runoff primary, with 194,932 votes to McDaniel's 187,265.^[28]

• July 1, 2014: True the Vote sued the Republican Party of Mississippi and the Mississippi Secretary of State, Delbert Hosemann, for failing to release the voting records necessary for an investigation of voter fraud in the Cochran vs. McDaniel runoff. The lawsuit argued that the records should have been released under the National Voter Registration Act Of 1993 (NVRA).^[29]

• July 3, 2014: McDaniel notified Cochran of his plans to challenge the primary runoff results due to illegitimate crossover votes from people who had voted in the Democratic primary and the Republican runoff.^[30]

• July 7, 2014: Mississippi Northern District Federal Judge Michael Mills issued a cause order expressing his belief that the True the Vote lawsuit should have been filed in the Southern District rather than the Northern District.^[31]

• July 8, 2014: True the Vote withdrew their lawsuit without prejudice.^[31]

• July 9, 2014: True the Vote refiled their lawsuit in Jackson, in the Southern District, adding election commissions in Copiah, Hinds, Jefferson Davis, Lauderdale, Leake, Madison, Rankin, Simpson and Yazoo counties to the list of defendants.^[32]

• July 24, 2014: Judge Nancy Atlas presided over a hearing for True the Vote's lawsuit, but did not make a ruling on the case.^[33]

• August 4, 2014: McDaniel confirmed at a news conference that he would challenge the runoff results by calling for a public hearing of the Mississippi GOP’s central committee.^[12]

• August 6, 2014: In a letter to McDaniel's attorney, Joe Nosef, chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party, refused to hear McDaniel's case in a GOP hearing due to the short amount of time they would have to make a decision. He suggested instead that McDaniel take the case to court.^[34]

• August 14, 2014: McDaniel formally filed a legal challenge in Jones County, asking to delay adding Cochran's name to the general election ballot and calling for a new primary runoff.^[35]

• August 15, 2014: The chief justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court appointed retired chancery judge, Hollis McGehee, to oversee McDaniel's case.^[36]

• August 20, 2014: Judge McGehee refused to grant McDaniel's request to prevent Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann from preparing the ballots with Cochran's name, on the grounds that McDaniel did not sue Hosemann.^[37]

• August 21, 2014: Cochran's attorneys filed papers asking that the lawsuit be dismissed because McDaniel filed it too late. The papers also stated that McDaniel should not have sued Cochran, as he had no control over the election process.^[37]

• August 25, 2014: McDaniel's legal team submitted a response to Cochran's motion to dismiss the lawsuit. The response argued that challenges to a state-wide primary election do not have to be filed within a certain time frame following the election.^[38]

• August 29, 2014: Judge Hollis McGehee dismissed the election challenge. The McDaniel campaign scheduled a news conference for September 2, at which McDaniel planned to announce whether or not he would file an appeal with the Mississippi Supreme Court.^[39] McDaniel later pushed back the news conference, needing more time to make the decision.^[40]

• August 29, 2014: Judge Nancy Atlas ruled against True the Vote's lawsuit, stating that the requested voter information was not required to be disclosed under the National Voter Registration Act Of 1993 (NVRA).^[16]

• September 5, 2014: McDaniel's lawyer, Mitch Tyner, filed an appeal with the Mississippi Supreme Court, challenging the dismissal of McDaniel's lawsuit against Cochran.^[41][42]

• September 24, 2014: Cochran filed papers with the state Supreme Court asking that McDaniel's lawsuit be dismissed, as it had been in the Jones County circuit court.^[43]

• October 24, 2014: The state Supreme Court ruled to uphold the decision of the Jones County circuit court to dismiss McDaniel's lawsuit against Cochran. Four justices concurred with the decision, while two dissented and three did not participate. The two dissenting were Justices Josiah Coleman and Ann Lamar.^[44]

Republican response[edit]

Criticism[edit]

• Conservative columnist Ann Coulter called on McDaniel supporters to "get over Cochran." She explained, "When a U.S. president is using the IRS to terrify his political enemies, destroying American health care and opening our southern border to millions of future welfare-collecting, Democratic voters from the Third World, why is a dime's worth of money being wasted on trying to replace the Republican senator from Mississippi with a slightly different Republican?"^[45]

• Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann referred to McDaniel's lawsuit as a "distraction," adding, "There's no reason for Mississippi to be involved in this litigation, and I'm hopeful we won't be."^[46]

• Former Club for Growth President Chris Chocola stated, "If there’s clearly evidence of wrongdoing, that there were ballot integrity issues I suppose it would be appropriate for him to pursue those, but it would have to be clear. I don’t know that they’re clear at this point.”^[47]

• Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, who was among those being sued by True the Vote, praised Judge Atlas' ruling against True the Vote, stating, "In the political pandemonium of the last several months, our voters should be encouraged Mississippi’s laws protecting privacy were not preempted by Federal law or the U.S. Constitution."^[48]

Support[edit]

• Former Alaska governor and U.S. vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin posted on Facebook that she supported an investigation of voter fraud in the runoff. She wrote, "I told Chris McDaniel last night that I stand with his effort to get to the bottom of this – he needs to know average, but tremendously concerned, citizens want to make sure the integrity of last night’s results in Mississippi are verified."^[49]

Democratic response[edit]

• Travis Childers, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate from Mississippi and Thad Cochran's general election challenger, congratulated Cochran on getting McDaniel's lawsuit dismissed. Childers stated, "I congratulate Senator Cochran on his win today in court. The allegations of the past couple months have raised serious questions about the electoral process, and I strongly believe we must ensure that every vote in Mississippi counts."^[50]

Noteworthy events[edit]

Voting in Democratic primary[edit]

After losing a highly competitive runoff primary to incumbent Thad Cochran in 2014, McDaniel challenged the results by saying that a large percentage of Cochran's voters were Democrats who had illegally voted in the Republican runoff after voting in the Democratic primary. However, shortly after the runoff, the Clarion-Ledger announced that they had found records of McDaniel voting for a Democratic candidate in Mississippi's 2003 state primary. Although McDaniel denied having done so at first, his spokesman later stated, "Over a decade ago, Chris McDaniel voted in a Democratic primary in order to have a choice in local competitive elections."^[51]

Race background[edit]

The primary battle between state Senator Chris McDaniel and incumbent Thad Cochran was highlighted as one of the top five primaries to watch in 2014. Shortly after McDaniel announced his candidacy, The Club for Growth, SCF, FreedomWorks, the Tea Party Express and the Madison Project all announced support.^[52]

Primary vulnerability[edit]

Cochran was named by National Journal as one of the top five incumbent senators at risk of losing his or her primary election in 2014. Four of the five most vulnerable senators were Republican.^[53]

Photos of Cochran's wife[edit]

Clayton Thomas Kelly, who ran a blog and openly supported Chris McDaniel over Thad Cochran, was arrested on May 16, 2014, for sneaking into St. Catherine's Village, a nursing home, and taking unauthorized photographs of Cochran's bedridden wife in order to post them in an internet video opposing Cochran. He was arrested for exploitation of a vulnerable adult.^[54] McDaniel's campaign denied any involvement with Kelly or the video, and McDaniel issued a statement criticizing Kelly's actions and reaching out to Cochran.^[55]

Democrat-aimed Cochran ad[edit]

After Thad Cochran and Chris McDaniel began their battle for the primary runoff election, McDaniel supporters brought attention to an ad that appeared in the Mississippi Link newspaper in late May 2014 . The ad was geared toward Democratic voters, and stated that Cochran was "Behind the latest farm bill that funds the SNAP program and supports our local farmers."^[56] Interestingly, the ad stated that it was paid for by "All Citizens for Mississippi," and there was no group of that name registered with the Federal Election Commission. Furthermore, nowhere on the ad did it state whether or not the ad was authorized by Cochran.^[57]

"Indecent things with animals"[edit]

In a campaign speech given on June 10, 2014, Thad Cochran made a comment that caused a stir in the media. While discussing his love of the countryside as a child, he stated that he did "all kinds of indecent things with animals."^[58] While listeners laughed it off as a joke, he claimed not even to remember the comment when a reporter later asked him to elaborate. Then, on June 12, 2014, he stated in an interview that he did not know that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor had been defeated in the primary election. Although his team defended him as merely joking, some reporters speculated that Cochran may have been losing some of his mental faculties, and that he would no longer be fit to serve in Congress.^[59]

Endorsements[edit]

Thad Cochran[edit]

Thad Cochran received the following endorsements:

• Gregg Harper:

"A true statesman, Sen. Cochran has dedicated his life to serving the people of Mississippi.... And Mississippi needs his leadership in the U.S. Senate now more than ever."^[60]

• Roger Wicker:

"The people of Mississippi need his experience and proven conservative leadership more than ever. Thad's work on behalf of Mississippi is a testament to his selfless dedication to our state and its future. He has my full support."^[60]

• Phil Bryant:

"After Hurricane Katrina, Thad dedicated his time and influence to our state's recovery efforts as we rebuilt from the nation's largest natural disaster. Our state has benefited from Sen. Cochran's leadership for over three decades. In today's political environment, we need this experience for Mississippi's future."^[60]

• Tate Reeves:

"I am glad Sen. Cochran is running for re-election and I, like thousands of Mississippians, had encouraged him to do so. He is the father of the conservative Republican takeover of Mississippi, and his wisdom will be an asset to the conservative cause as long as he serves. We as Republicans have a major fight in Washington to unwind the Obama agenda in the next six years, and we need our best minds on the job. I hope all Republicans will rally behind Thad Cochran."^[60]

• Former U.S. Senator Trent Lott^[61]

• Eagle PAC^[62]

• National Right to Life^[63]

• National Rifle Association (NRA)^[64]

• Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell^[65]

• The National Association of Realtors^[66]
  • The National Association of Realtors spent $400,000 on advertising for the primary and about $166,000 for the runoff.

Chris McDaniel[edit]

Chris McDaniel received the following endorsements for his 2014 bid:

Club for Growth[67] Tea Party Express[68] FreedomWorks[69] Senate Conservatives Fund[70] Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund[71] Gun Owners of America[72] Sarah Palin[73] Gary Bauer[74] Phyllis Schlafly and the Eagle Forum PAC[75]

Madison Project[76] Coalition to Reduce Spending[77] Young Americans for Liberty[78] Ron Paul[79] Glenn Beck, Laura Ingraham and Mark Levin[79] Rick Santorum[79] American Conservative Union[79] Family Research Council[79] National Association for Gun Rights[79]

Polls[edit]

Republican primary polls[edit]

Thad Cochran vs. Chris McDaniel
Poll	Thad Cochran	Chris McDaniel	Not sure	Margin of Error	Sample Size
Harper Polling (May 27-28, 2014)	45%	40%	15%	+/-4.0	599
GEB International (May 14, 2014)	36%	43%	21%	+/-4	600
Harper Polling (April 3-5, 2014)	52%	35%	12%	+/-4.1	570
Note: A "0%" finding means the candidate was not a part of the poll. The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org

Republican primary candidates
Poll	Chris McDaniel	Thad Cochran	Tom Carey	Undecided/Don't know	Margin of Error	Sample Size
Chism Strategies (May 29, 2014)	46.4%	44.3%	1.4%	7.9%	+/-3.4	813
Red Racing Horses (May 28-29, 2014)	41%	42%	6%	12%	+/-5	374
The Polling Company, Inc. (May 14-15, 2014)	43%	39%	3%	12%	+/-4.4	505
Note: A "0%" finding means the candidate was not a part of the poll. The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org

Runoff primary polls[edit]

Chris McDaniel vs. Thad Cochran
Poll	Chris McDaniel	Thad Cochran	Margin of Error	Sample Size
Strategic National (June 5, 2014)	52.49%	45.93%	+/-4.66	442
Chism Strategies (June 5, 2014)	50.6%	47.6%	+/-3.3	832
Note: A "0%" finding means the candidate was not a part of the poll. The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org

General election polls[edit]

Thad Cochran vs. Travis Childers
Poll	Thad Cochran	Travis Childers	Other candidate/Shawn O'Hara	Undecided	Margin of Error	Sample Size
Public Policy Polling (July 10-13, 2014)	40%	24%	5%	31%	+/-3.7	691
Rasmussen Reports (June 25-26, 2014)	46%	34%	10%	9%	+/-4	750
Rasmussen Reports (March 26-29, 2014)	48%	31%	9%	12%	+/-4	750
Note: A "0%" finding means the candidate was not a part of the poll. The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org

Chris McDaniel vs. Travis Childers
Poll	Chris McDaniel	Travis Childers	Margin of Error	Sample Size
Public Policy Polling (July 10-13, 2014)	36%	37%	+/-3.7	691
Rasmussen Reports (March 26-29, 2014)	47%	35%	+/-4	750
Public Policy Polling (November 15-17, 2013)	41%	38%	+/-4.4	502
Note: A "0%" finding means the candidate was not a part of the poll. The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org

Campaign contributions[edit]

Candidate ballot access
Find detailed information on ballot access requirements in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

Thad Cochran[edit]

Candidates for Congress were required to file up to seven main reports with the Federal Election Commission during the 2014 elections season. Below are Cochran's reports.^[80]

Thad Cochran (2013) Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
April Quarterly[81]	April 9, 2013	$480,184.56	$178,228.98	$(26,442.07)	$6,319,771.47
July Quarterly[82]	July 10, 2013	$6,319,771.47	$170,909.33	$(28,927.76)	$773,953.04
October Quarterly[83]	October 10, 2013	$773,953.04	$53,147.32	$(23,193.11)	$803,907.25
Year-End Quarterly[84]	December 31, 2013	$803,907	$339,337	$(43,326)	$1,100,445
April Quarterly[85]	April 10, 2014	$1,100,445.67	$1,703,077.71	$(1,291,015.20)	$1,512,508.18
July Quarterly[86]	July 15, 2014	$405,878	$1,645,077	$(1,336,666)	$714,290
October Quarterly[87]	October 15, 2014	$714,290	$722,056	$(885,482)	$550,864
			Running totals
			$4,811,833.34	$(3,635,052.14)

Travis Childers[edit]

Candidates for Congress were required to file up to seven main reports with the Federal Election Commission during the 2014 elections season. Below are Childers' reports.^[88]

Travis Childers (2014) Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
April Quarterly[89]	April 9, 2014	$0.00	$51,600.00	$(79.75)	$51,520.25
Pre-Primary[90]	May 22, 2014	$51,520.25	$30,575.00	$(8,689.80)	$73,405.45
July Quarterly[91]	July 15, 2014	$73,405	$96,446	$(134,957)	$34,895
			Running totals
			$178,621	$(143,726.55)

Chris McDaniel[edit]

Candidates for Congress were required to file up to seven main reports with the Federal Election Commission during the 2014 elections season. Below are McDaniel's reports.^[92]

Chris McDaniel (2014) Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
Year-End[93]	March 18, 2014	$0.00	$487,802.00	$(172,412.37)	$315,389.63
April Quarterly[94]	April 15, 2014	$315,389.63	$474,584.72	$(323,789.16)	$466,165.19
			Running totals
			$962,386.72	$(496,201.53)

Election history[edit]

2014[edit]

U.S. Senate, Mississippi General Election, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Thad Cochran Incumbent	59.9%	378,481
	Democratic	Travis Childers	37.9%	239,439
	Reform	Shawn O'Hara	2.2%	13,938
Total Votes				631,858
Source: Mississippi Secretary of State Official Results

2012[edit]

On November 6, 2012, Roger Wicker won re-election to the United States Senate. He defeated Albert N. Gore, Thomas Cramer, and Shawn O'Hara in the general election.

U.S. Senate, Mississippi General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Roger Wicker	57.2%	709,626
	Democratic	Albert N. Gore, Jr.	40.6%	503,467
	Constitution	Thomas Cramer	1.2%	15,281
	Reform	Shawn O'Hara	1.1%	13,194
Total Votes				1,241,568
Source: Mississippi Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

2008[edit]

On November 4, 2008, Cochran won re-election to the United States Senate. He defeated Erik Fleming (D) in the general election.^[95]

U.S. Senate, Mississippi General Election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Thad Cochran Incumbent	61.4%	766,111
	Democratic	Erik Fleming	38.6%	480,915
Total Votes				1,247,026

Media[edit]

Primary runoff ads[edit]

After an extremely close Republican primary, groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Realtors and Club for Growth released ads backing either Thad Cochran or Chris McDaniel for the Republican nomination in the primary runoff.^[96]

Thad Cochran[edit]

• Thad Cochran released a campaign ad in which a man praised Cochran for helping him to get through red tape in order to get the medical attention he needed for his brain tumor.^[97]
• Leading up to the runoff primary against Chris McDaniel, Cochran released a campaign ad explaining how he has helped Mississippi in his time as U.S. Senator.^[98]

Cochran 2014 campaign ad

Cochran's Republican primary runoff ad

Ads regarding photo scandal[edit]

• After a Chris McDaniel supporter took photos of Thad Cochran's wife in a recent scandal, Cochran came out with a new campaign ad opposing McDaniel.^[99] McDaniel, however, denied any involvement or knowledge of the photos, and retaliated with his own ad.^[100]

Cochran ad opposing McDaniel

McDaniel ad in response to Cochran's ad

Chris McDaniel[edit]

• Chris McDaniel received negative media attention from the Mississippi Conservatives PAC. According to the PAC, McDaniel was hypocritical and tried to take both sides on many issues, including tort reform, Common Core and earmarks.^[101]

• In his first campaign ad of the election, McDaniel stated his position on a few issues, highlighting his support for prayer in public schools and second amendment rights.^[102]

• McDaniel released another campaign ad in May 2014, this time opposing his opponent in the Republican primary, Thad Cochran.^[103]

• Citizens United Political Victory Fund (CUPVF) released an ad on May 21, 2014, opposing Cochran and supporting McDaniel.^[104]

• In an ad similar to one put out by Citizens United, the Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund released a campaign ad opposing Cochran and praising McDaniel.^[105]

• The Mississippi Conservatives PAC released an ad criticizing McDaniel for voting in the Democratic primary.^[106]

The Mississippi Conservatives PAC labels McDaniel a hypocrite.

McDaniel's first 2014 campaign ad

McDaniel campaign ad opposing Thad Cochran

Citizens United ad in favor of McDaniel

Tea Party Patriots ad in favor of McDaniel

Mississippi Conservatives PAC ad opposing McDaniel

Travis Childers[edit]

• Travis Childers released a campaign ad in which three bloodhounds attempted to find Thad Cochran. The ad criticized Cochran for spending too much time out of Mississippi and refusing to debate Childers on the issues.^[107]

Childers campaign ad against Thad Cochran

See also[edit]

• United States House of Representatives elections in Mississippi, 2014
• United States Senate elections, 2014

External links[edit]

• Vote and discuss at SystemWiki
• Mississippi Elections Division

Footnotes[edit]

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