# Mississippi election for U.S. Senator **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 5, 2014, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-election-for-u-s-senator/690122 "2014-06-05T15:26:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2014, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-election-for-u-s-senator/690122/61 "2014-07-03T17:14:40Z")
Some rumors today to the effect that McDaniel is having trouble finding lawyers. If a lawsuit is actually filed, I expect the basis will be that a number of voters in the runoff were ineligible because they had previously voted in the Democratic primary. If that happened, it should be relatively easy to prove. Compare the Dem voter roll from the primary with the GOP voter roll from the runoff, and any duplicates would be ineligible voters. Assuming significant numbers of ineligible voters are found, the problem becomes how to remedy the situation. The obvious solution there seems to be a do over–but that poses logistical issues and financial burdens on every county in the state, as well as on both campaigns. I think McDaniel is facing a lose-lose scenario here. He’s unlikely to prevail in a legal challenge, and even if he does, he’s burned his bridges with the mainstream GOP, and pissed off a significant number of voters in the process. Nobody outside of his campaign really wants to deal with the flood of advertising and other shenanigans to redo the election. McDaniel should go ahead and concede already… ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2014, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-election-for-u-s-senator/690122/62 "2014-07-03T17:38:38Z")
This can only keep getting weirder. **Oakminster** , it isn’t clear, based on the vote count at least, which faction is the party’s mainstream anymore, is it? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2014, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-election-for-u-s-senator/690122/63 "2014-07-03T19:41:12Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > **Oakminster** , it isn’t clear, based on the vote count at least, which faction is the party’s mainstream anymore, is it? That’s true. I think there is a real chance of a formal schism in the GOP, with the Tea Party becoming a quasi-legitimate third party, which could make things really interesting over the next few years. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2014, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-election-for-u-s-senator/690122/64 "2014-07-03T19:47:31Z")
A statement released by the Mississippi Secretary of State: \*_ **Statement regarding Lawsuit and Primary Runoff Election** _ In response to the litigation against the State of Mississippi, the Secretary of State’s Office has not violated any federal or State laws and should be immediately dismissed from this litigation. Every citizen should anticipate this Agency will follow scrupulously Mississippi law, as enacted by Mississippi citizens through its legislative process. Those include: 1. In the event the Secretary of State’s Office is made aware of any person voting in both a Democratic Primary and a Republican primary, those individuals’ names will be forwarded to the District Attorney and Attorney General for whatever prosecutorial action they deem appropriate. 2. The Secretary of State’s Office possesses no pollbooks from either the June 3rd Primary Election or the June 24th Primary Runoff Election. We support full disclosure of pollbooks to the public in accordance with Mississippi law. 3. The Secretary of State’s Office has committed no violation of the National Voter Registration Act and will not. This Agency followed federal and state law in implementing Voter ID and will continue to follow all voting laws. 4. The Secretary of State’s Office requested a change in the law to require our Agency to report on Mississippi elections to the public and Legislature. As required by the State Legislature, this Office issues Election Day Reports for all elections in Mississippi. The public should anticipate a report for the June 24th Primary Runoff Election. 5. Party Primary Elections are the responsibility of the Party, not the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State’s Office does not certify primary election results. The Secretary of State only receives certified results from the party in order to prepare the General Election ballot.\* ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-election-for-u-s-senator/690122/65 "2014-07-05T08:50:20Z")
**Oakminister** , what’s your sense of what the rank and file Republican voters think of the kerfuffle? Who do they “blame,” if anyone, for the chaos? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-election-for-u-s-senator/690122/66 "2014-07-06T01:57:56Z")
The story is being covered by the [New York Times](http://news360.com/article/246713850#). As for who gets the blame, it depends on who you ask. McDaniel supporters are well and truly pissed off, and appear to blame pretty much everybody that isn’t “one of them”–which has some really uncomfortable connotations. The Cochran camp is starting to get exasperated…and perhaps a little worried. They want this whole thing to go away yesterday, and they are not getting that. They’re in a tough spot–going after McDaniel risks pouring gas on the fire, but ignoring his open accusations of election stealing could hurt them. They have no ability to communicate any sort of message right now–all the news is on the “controversy”. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-election-for-u-s-senator/690122/67 "2014-07-06T17:20:48Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > The story is being covered by the [New York Times](http://news360.com/article/246713850#). > > As for who gets the blame, it depends on who you ask. McDaniel supporters are well and truly pissed off, and appear to blame pretty much everybody that isn’t “one of them”–which has some really uncomfortable connotations. > > The Cochran camp is starting to get exasperated…and perhaps a little worried. They want this whole thing to go away yesterday, and they are not getting that. They’re in a tough spot–going after McDaniel risks pouring gas on the fire, but ignoring his open accusations of election stealing could hurt them. They have no ability to communicate any sort of message right now–all the news is on the “controversy”. Well, it’s still three month to the general election, I’m sure they’ll have time to get their message out. Whatever it is. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-election-for-u-s-senator/690122/68 "2014-07-07T14:04:15Z")
Interesting that the Congressional Black Caucus (all Dems, as if you didn’t know) are now telling Cochran [he needs to reciprocate.](http://www.politico.com/story/2014/06/thad-cochran-mississippi-election-2014-black-vote-108411.html) ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2014, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-election-for-u-s-senator/690122/69 "2014-07-15T23:42:21Z")
OK, election law is not really my thing, so can someone explain to me how the hell a guy that lives in Alabama has standing to [challenge a Mississippi election](http://www.businessinsider.com/r-prominent-outsider-seeks-rerun-of-mississippi-us-senate-primary-2014-14)? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-election-for-u-s-senator/690122/70 "2014-07-16T02:01:51Z")
The “[Complaint](http://images.politico.com/global/2014/07/14/2014-07-11_redacted_caf_ms_sen_double-voting_complaint.html)” was filed with the Mississippi Secretary of State, not in court. Apparently anyone can file an allegation with the SOS’ office using [this form](http://www.sos.ms.gov/elections_report_election_fraud.aspx). Looks like the AG’s office takes it from there so McCutcheon wouldn’t actually be a party. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2014, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-election-for-u-s-senator/690122/71 "2014-07-18T04:20:21Z")
McDaniel lost a critical ruling in the [Mississippi Supreme Court](http://www.wtva.com/news/national/story/Court-rules-against-Chris-McDaniel-petition/La5TdpMlDEeux-c7rCnLZA.cspx) today. He’s been seeking the unredacted poll books to bolster his claims of fraud in the runoff election. The Court said nope. He’s filing a petition for rehearing _en banc_, which probably won’t go much better for him. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-election-for-u-s-senator/690122/72 "2014-08-05T18:27:36Z")
[McDaniel’s still at it.](http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/senate-races/214274-mcdaniel-declare-me-the-mississippi-winner) The richest bit: > [@](#): > > McDaniel also took a shot at Cochran’s campaign, accusing them of race-baiting in the primary. Cochran’s allies made explicit appeals to black Democrats to have them cross over in the primary. > > “There is no place in the Republican Party for those that would race-bait,” he said. Isn’t there? [More from Salon.](http://www.salon.com/2014/08/05/tea_party_nuts_absurd_quest_void_a_whole_county_and_declare_me_the_winner/) > [@](#): > > After six weeks of dogged research into alleged voter fraud, the campaign of defeated (?) Tea Party challenger Chris McDaniel has submitted a “formal” complaint to the Mississippi Republican party to change the results of the June 24 runoff election. We put “formal” in scare quotes like that because the complaint is hilarious and wonderful and demands to be made fun of. So be it. > > The McDaniel campaign, backed by lawyer Mitch Tyner, does not ask for a new election to be held. It makes things easier than that for the Republican party: all it has to do is completely throw out the results for either one or various counties that voted heavily for Sen. Thad Cochran and declare McDaniel the winner. Easy. > > You can tell it’s going to be a Very Special document from the outset, as it consistently refers to “Democrat voters” and the “Democrat party” and “illegal Democrat votes” and so forth. Referring to the Democratic party, and Democratic voters, as the “Democrat party” and “Democrat voters” is a common rhetorical slight employed by Republicans. It sort of snaps off the tongue in disgust. Typically, though, in an official legal submission, one would use the proper term for one of the country’s two major political parties. Not here, though. At least the campaign did have the sense to weed out (some) language referring to “black Democrat votes” from the first draft. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-election-for-u-s-senator/690122/73 "2014-08-07T05:31:05Z")
The Mississippi GOP effectively told McDaniel to [go fuck himself](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/06/chris-mcdaniel-thad-cochran_n_5656679.html) but with more polite wording. They refused to hear his challenge because of timing issues, told him to take it to court. From a practical perspective, you can stick a fork in him, he’s done. I doubt a court would have time to rule on the merits before the general election in November, if his case survives a motion to dismiss. Even if a there was a ruling on the merits in his favor, there would be an appeal, and I really don’t think any court is likely to issue an injunction to stop the general election pending appellate review. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-election-for-u-s-senator/690122/74 "2014-08-07T17:28:54Z")
[Inexplicably, the Mississippi GOP refuses to declare McDaniel the winner of the primary.](http://www.salon.com/2014/08/07/gop_laughs_off_defeated_clown_party_tells_chris_mcdaniel_to_go_away/) ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-election-for-u-s-senator/690122/75 "2014-08-29T21:11:39Z")
McDaniel’s challenge was [dismissed](http://www.wtva.com/news/national/story/Judge-dismisses-election-challenge/mvXn1_0G8USx_AEoAXGo1g.cspx) as being untimely filed. the dismissal is without prejudice, so he can continue grasping at straws if he chooses. I suppose he could also appeal to the MS Supreme Court. Doubt it matters. He’s forked. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-election-for-u-s-senator/690122.md?page=3)