Mississippi GOP state Sen. Chris McDaniel is dropping his primary challenge to Sen. Roger Wicker, he announced Wednesday, and will instead run for the open seat coming as a result of Sen. Thad Cochran’s pending resignation next month.
McDaniel’s decision means Republicans won’t have to spend resources against a potentially pesky primary challenger, but could be a headache for Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, whose allies are determined to keep McDaniel out of the Senate. McDaniel nearly defeated Cochran in a 2014 primary challenge.
But the announcement also dials up the pressure on GOP Gov. Phil Bryant, who will appoint someone to fill Cochran’s seat until November. All the candidates, potentially including the eventual appointee, will run on a nonpartisan ballot together Nov. 6. If no candidate earns a majority of the vote, the top two finishers will face off in a runoff later that month.
Bryant has ruled out appointing himself to the seat, and is considering Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, Rep. Gregg Harper and Agriculture and Commerce Commissioner Cindy Hyde-Smith as potential appointments.
AAN Staff
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