More than a rumor?
Democrat David Baria running for U.S. Senate; will face winner of Wicker, McDaniel primary
Wasn’t up yet when I posted that. Pleased to see it confirmed 
I’m really happy to see this news. I’m pretty sure Mississippi is out of reach, but I would have been pissed if no one even ran. This is a senate seat in a state where over 400k people voted Dem in 2016 (compared to over 600k for DJT). Sure it’s not close, but that many people deserve to have someone at least try to speak for them.
It’s a longshot, but Chris McCrazypants is going to run a nasty campaign against Wicker, and if he wins the primary, there is a chance a good Democratic candidate could pull the upset.
Cochran says that he can’t continue to serve due to his deteriorating health and will step down as of April 1.
Does that mean two Senate elections in November for Mississippi?
Looks like two senate elections this fall if I’m reading this correctly.
Boom. I’m psychic. PM me where you can send me money so I can tell you about the winning lottery numbers to play.
So we’ll be down to at worst 50-48 in the Senate, assuming McCain doesn’t fly in to vote.
Of course, you already know:dubious:
So it would seem.
bwaaaaaa-ha-ha-HAAAAAAA!
The partisan breakdown is currently 51 R to 49 D. (Had been 52-48 before Doug Jones beat Roy Moore in Alabama.) So it’ll be 50-49 after April 1 when Cochran resigns, at least on those days when John McCain and Tammy Duckworth (who is due in April) are both there.
I’ll quote you, but ask this as a general question: doesn’t Gov. Bryant get to appoint an interim senator?
The state election code provides:
One assumes that Bryant will appoint a Republican. Am I missing something?
Yes, the governor gets to appoint an interim senator. Furthermore, with this much notice that should be sorted by the time Cochran steps down so this won’t have any effect on the balance of the senate.
Here’s my question(s)… how does the primary for this seat work? Will it be on the same day as the primary for Wicker’s seat? The filing deadline for that primary has already passed. What is the primary filing deadline Cochran’s seat? Can someone run in the primaries for both seats?
I couldn’t find the answers to these questions with a quick Google. Perhaps someone more plugged in to Mississippi local news can shed some light on this.
None of what I’d read about Cochran’s impending resignation mentioned that, so I just assumed (I know, I know :)) the seat would be vacant until November. I’m sure you’re right.
My brain is hurting from trying to untangle that run-on sentence.
No primary. All candidates run in November. There’s no party affiliation on that ballot. If no one gets to 50%+1, the top two face each other in a runoff.
Interesting approach. Weird, but them’s the rules if the resignation takes place when there’s already an election on the ballot in November.
I should have checked 538… How Things Could Go Wrong For Republicans In Mississippi’s New Senate Race
So, the special election for Cochran’s seat is non-partisan and thus there is no primary. Anyone can run for it and if no one gets 50% of the vote on election day, there will be a run-off of the top two finishers. Also, there’s nothing stopping Chris McCrazypants (credit: Oakminster) from dropping out of the race for Wicker’s seat and entering the race for Cochran’s seat.
Finally, people are talking about Elvis’s cousin again.
ETA: ninjaed
Gotcha.
Things are definitely getting interesting. There is widespread speculation that Chris McCrazypants will drop out of the race for Wicker’s seat to run for Cochran’s seat instead. There are even wilder rumors about who might be appointed to fill the seat in the interim…from Tate (Tater tot) Reeves, to Delbert Hoseman, (currently SoS), to Bryant himself.
The race for Wicker’s seat now has about half a dozen Dems running.
On the Dem side, Brandon Presley is being pressured to run for Cochran’s seat, along with a firebrand of a legislator from Oxford named Jay Hughes.
What exactly is his illness?
I would usually say no, the seat will not be in play. But after Alabama I’m not going to rule out a Democrat.
Gotta be more than the UTI that’s been reported. That was in October.