--- title: Thad Cochran Beats Chris McDaniel in Mississippi GOP Senate Runoff description: A win for the GOP establishment over the Tea Party canonical: https://time.com/2919685/thad-cochran-chris-mcdaniel-mississippi-primary/ author: Denver Nicks article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-25T03:21:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T08:57:39.073Z article:section: Politics og:title: Thad Cochran Beats Chris McDaniel in Mississippi GOP Senate Runoff og:description: A win for the GOP establishment over the Tea Party og:url: https://time.com/2919685/thad-cochran-chris-mcdaniel-mississippi-primary/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt34b56660caebf4fb/69869921cd804d3526ccba1c/thad-cochran-mississippi.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4926 og:image:height: 2771 og:image:alt: Thad Cochran og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Thad Cochran Beats Chris McDaniel in Mississippi GOP Senate Runoff twitter:description: A win for the GOP establishment over the Tea Party twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt34b56660caebf4fb/69869921cd804d3526ccba1c/thad-cochran-mississippi.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Thad Cochran Beats Back Tea Party Challenger in Mississippi > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=0ae5490e-4686-4aaa-8c39-aeb2da237afa&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Thad Cochran Beats Back Tea Party Challenger in Mississippi [Watch (HLS stream): Thad Cochran Beats Back Tea Party Challenger in Mississippi](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/idwTmkGQ.m3u8) (1:46)  _Published 2014-06-25. After a long and bitter fight, Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi manages to fend off a serious tea party challenge in Tuesday's GOP Senate runoff_  by [Denver Nicks](https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Jun 25, 2014 3:21 AM UTC After a long and bitter fight, Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi manages to fend off a serious tea party challenge in Tuesday's GOP Senate runoff  by [Denver Nicks](https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Jun 25, 2014 3:21 AM UTC Sen. Thad Cochran narrowly won Mississippi’s Republican primary election Tuesday, prevailing over a Tea Party challenger in a hard-fought runoff vote that was seen as [a proxy for the intramural fight](http://time.com/2913762/thad-cochran-chris-mcdaniel-mississippi-runoff/) between the GOP establishment and conservative insurgents. Cochran, a six-term incumbent, beat two-term state Sen. Chris McDaniel, a former talk-radio host with strong Tea Party support, by just a few thousand votes. The Associated Press called the race for Cochran a few minutes after 11 p.m. E.T. With 98.1% of precincts reporting, Cochran had 50.7% of the vote to McDaniel’s 49.3%. McDaniel had bested Cochran by a half-a-percentage point in the initial June 3 primary, but neither man won a clear majority, forcing the two into a runoff that culminated Tuesday. Cochran strategists called the June 3 primary a wake-up call for a candidate who had run a scattershot campaign up to that point. “We all have a right to be proud of our state tonight,” Cochran told supporters Tuesday night. “What we have tonight is reflected as a consensus for more and better jobs for Mississippi workers, a military force and the capacity to defend the security interests of the United States of America,” Cochran said. “Those were our principle… planks in the platform of the campaign.” Cochran’s campaign had looked to expand the electorate after falling short in the runoff, heavily courting black voters and other traditionally Democratic constituencies (Democrats were allowed to vote in the runoff Tuesday if they hadn’t voted in the June 3 Democratic primary). That strategy — Cochran strategists called Democratic turnout a key factor in the narrow race — drew outrage from McDaniel supporters and promises to monitor polling places for any shenanigans. McDaniel did not concede Tuesday night and quickly tried to cast doubt on the outcome. He claimed there were “dozens of irregularities” in voting across the state and went so far as to suggest that he may bring a legal challenge. Mississippi state law does not include a recount provision, leaving McDaniel with the courts as his only — however unlikely — recourse. “There is something a bit strange, there is something a bit unusual about a Republican primary that’s decided by liberal Democrats,” McDaniel told supporters. “Before this race ends, we have to be absolutely certain that the Republican primary was won by Republican voters. “So much for bold colors. So much for principle,” he added. “I guess \[we\] can take some consolation in the fact that they did something tonight. By once again compromising. By once again reaching across the aisle. By once again abandoning the conservative movement. … Today the conservative movement took the backseat to liberal Democrats in the state of Mississippi.” The nominating contest drew national attention as it developed along clear ideological lines between conservative Tea Party activists supporting McDaniel and GOP establishment figures backing Cochran, mirroring the wider civil war boiling in the party. An incumbent with decades of experience in Washington, Cochran earned a reputation in his career for bringing federal dollars into Mississippi, something for which McDaniel supporters labeled him the “King of Pork.” The election drew millions of dollars in outside spending from national entities like the conservative Club for Growth and Sarah Palin for McDaniel, and the Chamber of Commerce and John McCain for Cochran. The race also took some nasty turns, as voters were inundated with accusations and counter-accusations that flew back and forth in negative ads. At one point, a group of McDaniel supporters were caught taking pictures of Cochran’s ailing wife in a nursing home. Cochran will go on to face Democrat Travis Childers in November’s general election. Though weakened after a drawn out, internecine battle, Cochran, who has more than 40 years under his belt as a Mississippi politician, is likely to emerge victorious in the deeply conservative state. _— Additional reporting by Zeke J Miller_ ## Transcript [00:00] So much for bold colors. So much for [00:04] principle. A nasty finish to a tough race. Mississippi Tea [00:08] Party candidate Chris McDaniel with a not- so- conciliatory [00:11] speech, after losing in a close race to incumbant Senator, [00:15] Thad Cochrane. There is something a bit strange. There [00:19] is something a bit unusual about a Republican primary [00:24] that's decided by liberal Democrats. We thank you all for [00:28] being here to help celebrate our great victory. This is your [00:32] victory. Cochran who trailed McDaniel in the Republican [00:35] primary June 3rd, spent the past three weeks courting [00:39] voters outside the GOP base, including African Americans. [00:43] Pointing to federal funds he secured throughout his 36 [00:46] years in the Senate. And to those who say, you know [00:48] what? You have been reelected time and time again. Your [00:51] opponent says, it's just too much. You've been there too [00:53] long. Well, I'm the, I'm the choice the people have made, [00:56] freely and openly. In the largely African American precinct [01:00] we visited, turnout was up three times what it was for the [01:04] primary, and it was higher elsewhere. Who did you vote [01:06] for? Thad Cochran. Have you ever voted in a Republican [01:09] primary before? I have not. I guess they can tape some [01:12] consolation in the fact that they did something tonight. But [01:16] once again compromising. But once again reaching across [01:19] the aisle. But once again abandoning the conservative [01:22] movement. Conservative and African American groups [01:25] both sent observers to the polls, fearing impropriety from the [01:29] other side, which did not materialize. In the end, it was just [01:32] over 6, 000 votes that separated the two. We all have a [01:36] right to be proud of our state tonight. [ NOISE ] Thank you [01:40] very much. 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