Cochran bests McDaniel in Miss. GOP runoff

Six-term incumbent Senator Thad Cochran has been declared the winner in his Mississippi GOP primary runoff against challenger Chris McDaniel. With over 99 percent of precincts reporting, Cochran led McDaniel 50.9 percent to 49.1 percent.

It seems odd in contemporary American politics to call a win by an incumbent in a primary a surprise, but for many watching the Mississippi race, Cochran’s ability to survive this challenge from his right is indeed surprising.

The 76-year-old senator had run what most observers termed a lackluster campaign before the June 3 primary, and McDaniel, a state senator and former radio host with strong backing from outside conservative interest groups, actually finished slightly ahead of Cochran (though shy of an absolute majority, thus necessitating a runoff). The expectation, bolstered by a smattering of opinion polls, was that the younger McDaniel would outlast Cochran, and the challenger's temperament and energy would drive his base to the polls in a low-turnout election.

But Cochran turned to African American voters, most of whom are Democrats, to broaden the electorate in the runoff — and it appears he was successful, or at least successful enough. Turnout in Tuesday’s vote was actually larger than for the June 3 primary, and early reports say that black districts showed some of the largest increases.

Cochran will now face Democrat Travis Childers, a former U.S. Representative, in November.

* * *

Elsewhere on a busy primary night, 84-year-old 22-term Democrat Charles Rangel appears to have held on to his House seat in the newly drawn New York-13, edging out state senator Adriano Espaillat for the second time in two years.

In Maryland, Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown defeated a crowded field in the Democratic primary for Governor. Brown will face off against GOP nominee Larry Hogan in November.

Former U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez will challenge incumbent Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper in the fall after winning the Republican primary in the Centennial State.

The special election to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of scandal-plagued Florida-19 Rep. Trey Radel was won easily by GOP businessman Curt Clawson. There will be a separate election in November to fill the seat for the next Congress.

In what is seen as another setback for tea party-allied candidates, Oklahoma’s two-term Rep. James Lankford handily beat T.W. Shannon, the state’s first African American Speaker of the House, in the special election to replace Sen. Tom Coburn, who is stepping down with two years left in his term. Shannon had enjoyed the support of conservative rainmakers such as Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sarah Palin, but it had little effect against Lankford, a member of the House GOP leadership, who avoided a runoff with more than 57 percent of the vote.

Oklahoma Democrats will need a runoff between Tuesday’s top two vote getters, Connie Johnson and Jim Rogers, to decide Lankford’s challenger.

And in Utah, everyone won — as in every candidate in both the Democratic and Republican primaries for all four Congressional districts in the state ran unopposed. Because, Democracy.