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The United States Senate Republican primary election in Mississippi, 2014 took place on June 3, 2014. Incumbent Republican Senator Thad Cochran, who has served in the position since 1978, is running for re-election to a seventh term. He is being challenged by State Senator Chris McDaniel, a Tea Party supporter, for the Republican nomination. During the primary election, Senator Cochran and State Senator McDaniel received 49% and 49.5% of the vote respectively. Since no candidate received over 50%, there was a runoff to determine the Republican nominee on June 24, 2014. Cochran's campaign invited Democrats to vote in the Republican primary and defeated McDaniel in the run-off election. In addition, Cochran-affiliated super PACs used racially-charged themes in their primary ads, particularly the super PAC "All Citizens for Mississippi", which was funded(according to these F.E.C. filings) by a super PAC affiliated with Former Governor Haley Barbour. ==Background and Primary Campaign== Thad Cochran was first elected to the Senate with a plurality of the vote in a three-way race in 1978. He has been re-elected with at least 61% of the vote ever since, in 1984, 1990, 1996, 2002 and 2008. Cochran's fundraising ability, powerful Senate committee assignments and very high approval ratings mean that he was dubbed "unbeatable". However, State Senator Chris McDaniel, a Tea Party supporter, declared his candidacy for the seat on October 17, 2013. He was immediately endorsed by the Club for Growth and Jim DeMint's Senate Conservatives Fund. McDaniel was initially reported to have no chance of beating Cochran in the primary,〔 as summed up by the ''Jackson Free Press'', who remarked that if McDaniel faced Cochran, it would be the "beginning of () end of () political career". Republican lobbyist Henry Barbour, the nephew of former Governor Haley Barbour, said: "I think he will get his head handed to him, and that will be what he deserves. () it's a free country." Rather, McDaniel was believed to have declared his candidacy in the hope that Cochran didn't run, so that he could get "first crack" at the support of Tea Party groups and donors ahead of a competitive primary.〔 Although the race was initially considered uncompetitive, McDaniel proved to be a serious challenger. Polling showed the lead swinging between the two of them and it is considered to be a "50%-50% race". The race is considered to be a marquee establishment-versus-Tea Party fight and significant because Mississippi is the poorest state and Cochran's seniority and appropriating skills contrasts with the junior status of the rest of the state's congressional delegation. McDaniel has been endorsed by politicians including Sarah Palin and Rick Santorum and organisations including Citizens United, Club for Growth, FreedomWorks, Madison Project, National Association for Gun Rights, Senate Conservatives Fund and Tea Party Express. By contrast, the Republican establishment has rallied around Cochran, who has also been endorsed by the National Rifle Association and National Right to Life. The race has been described as a "nasty" one,〔 full of "bizarre" twists. McDaniel's campaign has attacked Cochran for being "an out-of-touch, big-spending Washington insider" and Cochran's has replied that "McDaniel’s voting record in the state Senate does not match his conservative rhetoric." Both sides have accused the other of distortions and outright lies. Cochran has run on his incumbency, seniority and the fact that he would become the Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee if the Republicans took back control of the Senate. In addition to ideological differences, the race has also highlighted geographic divides in the state Republican Party. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「United States Senate Republican primary election in Mississippi, 2014」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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