Mississippi's Cochran just ahead of Tea Party rival

U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., waves to supporters Tuesday night at the Mississippi Children’s Museum in Jackson after taking a narrow lead over Tea Party-backed challenger Chris McDaniel in a runoff for the Republican nomination for the Senate. Cochran had appealed to traditionally Democratic voters to help him keep his seat.
U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., waves to supporters Tuesday night at the Mississippi Children’s Museum in Jackson after taking a narrow lead over Tea Party-backed challenger Chris McDaniel in a runoff for the Republican nomination for the Senate. Cochran had appealed to traditionally Democratic voters to help him keep his seat.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran held a narrow lead over Tea Party-backed challenger Chris McDaniel in the Republican primary runoff Tuesday in Mississippi, one of several states where voters went to the polls.

Cochran had a lead of about 3,800 votes, holding 51 percent of the vote to McDaniel's 49 percent with 99 percent of precincts reporting late Tuesday night. The Associated Press called the race for Cochran, but McDaniel had not yet conceded.

In a brief speech, Cochran credited those who helped. "It's a group effort, it's not a solo, and so we all have a right to be proud of our state tonight."

McDaniel offered no explicit concession, but instead complained of "dozens of irregularities" that he implied were due to Cochran's courting of Democrats and independents.

"We are not prone to surrender, we Mississippians," McDaniel told his supporters. "Before this race is over we have to be absolutely certain the Republican primary was won by Republican voters."

Cochran, a six-term senator, had reached out to traditionally Democratic voters -- blacks and union members -- in the contest against McDaniel. Voters who cast ballots in the June 3 Democratic primary were barred from participating.

The apparent win was a fresh blow to the Tea Party movement, which spent millions to cast aside Cochran.

In another setback for the Tea Party, two-term Rep. James Lankford of Oklahoma won the GOP nomination in the race to succeed Sen. Tom Coburn, who is stepping down with two years left in his term. Lankford defeated T.W. Shannon, the state's first black House speaker and a member of the Chickasaw Nation who had been backed by national Tea Party groups.

State Sen. Connie Johnson will face Jim Rogers in an Aug. 26 primary runoff to determine which Democrat advances to November's general election to face Lankford.

Meanwhile, Sen. Jim Inhofe defeated four challengers to win the GOP nomination in his bid to keep the state's other seat for a fourth term. He'll face one Democrat and three independent candidates in November.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin on Tuesday also defeated two challengers to win the GOP nomination for a second term as the state's chief executive.

Tuesday's primary election schedule also included votes in New York, Colorado, Maryland and Utah. In a special House election on Florida's Gulf Coast, voters chose Republican businessman Curt Clawson to replace former Rep. Trey Radel, who resigned in January after pleading guilty to cocaine possession.

In New York's Harlem and Upper Manhattan, 22-term Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel held a slight edge Tuesday night over state Sen. Adriano Espaillat, who was bidding to become the first Dominican-American member of Congress.

Rangel, one of the founders of the Congressional Black Caucus, drew criticism last month when he dismissed Espaillat as a candidate whose only accomplishment was to be a Dominican in a majority Hispanic district.

Two years ago, Rangel prevailed in the primary against Espaillat by fewer than 1,100 votes.

In Colorado on Tuesday, former Rep. Bob Beauprez won the crowded gubernatorial primary that included 2008 presidential candidate Tom Tancredo, an immigration opponent. National Republicans had feared Tancredo could be a drag on the GOP ticket in November.

Beauprez also beat out Scott Gessler, the secretary of state, and Mike Kopp, an Army veteran and a former state senator. He will face Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper in the fall.

In Maryland, Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown won the Democratic primary for governor as the state chose a successor to outgoing Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley, who is considering a 2016 presidential bid.

Incumbents have largely prevailed midway through this primary season, with two notable exceptions. Little-known college professor Dave Brat knocked out House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in Virginia's Republican primary this month, and Republican Rep. Ralph Hall, 91, lost in a Texas runoff to a younger Republican.

In Mississippi, Cochran and his allies, including former Gov. Haley Barbour, highlighted his decades on the Senate Appropriations Committee and his work directing billions in federal dollars to his home state, one of the poorest in the nation.

The Cochran appeal to non-Republicans infuriated McDaniel and prompted Tea Party supporters -- as well as the NAACP and the Justice Department -- to keep tabs on who was voting in Mississippi. State officials also were observing the voting.

Officials said more absentee ballots had been requested for Tuesday's elections than the June 3 first round of voting. McDaniel finished first in that round, but he was short of the majority needed for nomination.

McDaniel, an attorney and former radio host, had the strong backing of the Tea Party movement, which sees his political approach as a change from a Washington status quo of mainstream conservatives willing to compromise.

In the November general election, Cochran will face Democrat Travis Childers, a former congressman, in the heavily Republican state.

Information for this article was contributed by Jack Elliott, Jeff Amy, Alex Sanz and Philip Elliott of The Associated Press and by Jack Healy of The New York Times.

A Section on 06/25/2014

Upcoming Events