Miss. Senate Race: Chris McDaniel Should Concede

Media coverage is increasing of what may be an impending legal challenge to the Mississippi U.S. Senate Republican run-off election result from defeated candidate Chris McDaniel. Now certified as a 7,667 vote loser to Sen. Thad Cochran, McDaniel has a daunting task before him if he is to achieve his eventual goal of reversing the result. At the heart of the issue are the new voters who cast ballots in the run-off election, but did not participate in the Republican primary. Under Mississippi election law, there is no requirement to vote in a primary election prior to being part of the associated run-off. It is illegal, however, for a voter to cast a ballot in a primary of one party and then participate in the run-off of the opposite party. According to the McDaniel campaign, thousands of Democrats voted in their own primary and then appeared at Republican run-off polling places. Since our elections are conducted by private ballot, it will be extremely difficult for the McDaniel camp to prove illegally cast ballots were Cochran votes. Even if he could find a way to accomplish this feat, the electoral clock is ticking against him. There is not enough time to hold a new runoff election, as federal elections now require all absentee ballots be mailed 45 days before the election.  Legal action would also take more than the allotted time available.  Since the U.S. Senate contest is a federal election, the general election will take place on November 4 whether the Republican Party has a candidate or not. Should the process deteriorate to the point where a clear GOP winner is not determined, the election would proceed sans a Republican nominee. Now that Sen. Cochran is the official party nominee, it will take an extraordinary effort to remove him from the ballot. For more information, please contact David Ashinoff at (703) 837-5013 or ashinoffd@agc.org.