Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran surprised Washington when he announced that he would seek a seventh term rather than retire. He faces a stiff challenge from state Sen. Chris McDaniel, who has the support of the Club for Growth and other conservative groups. Mississippi has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1982, so either Republican would be a favorite in the fall.
The two candidates represent a choice, not an echo. The Almanac of American Politics says that Mr. Cochran “personifies a vanishing breed of southern Republican – amiable to all, conservative but not rigidly so, a devoted institutionalist, and a proficient procurer of funding for his poor, rural state.” Mr. McDaniel represents a new breed: ideological and confrontational. His election would bolster hard-liners such as Sen. Ted Cruz (R) of Texas and could change the character of the Senate GOP.
