Cochran narrowly leads Miss. tea party challenger [View all]

Source: AP-Excite

By DONNA CASSATA and EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS

WASHINGTON (AP) — Battling for political survival, six-term Sen. Thad Cochran led tea party favorite Chris McDaniel Tuesday night in a bruising, costly Mississippi primary runoff that exposed deep divisions within the Republican Party.

With 78 percent of precincts reporting, Cochran led with 51 percent to McDaniel's 49 percent. The veteran lawmaker and his allies had highlighted his seniority and Washington clout in the three-week dash since an inconclusive June 3 primary, while McDaniel had argued that Cochran was part of a Washington blight of federal overspending.

In a last-ditch effort, Cochran had reached out to traditionally Democratic voters — blacks and union members — in what had become an underdog candidacy against the younger McDaniel, his challenger from the right. Voters who cast ballots in the earlier Democratic primary were barred from participating.

The Mississippi contest that threatened to cast aside the 76-year-old Cochran was the marquee race on a busy June primary day that included New York, Oklahoma, 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.

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Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140625/us--primary_election_rdp-f65c0ffa77.html

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U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., greets supporters and volunteers at his Canton, Miss., headquarters, Tuesday, June 24, 2014. Cochran is in the Republican primary runoff election against state Sen. Chris McDaniel on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)