Cochran, McDaniel go to the wire in Miss. runoff

WASHINGTON - In a remarkable turnaround, six-term Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi edged out tea party-backed challenger Chris McDaniel on Tuesday in a bruising, costly Republican runoff that pitted Washington clout against insistence on conservative purity.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Cochran had 51 percent to McDaniel's 49 percent, three weeks after McDaniel had beaten the veteran lawmaker in the initial primary round but had fallen short of the majority needed. In the three-week dash to the runoff, Cochran and his allies had highlighted his seniority and sought the support of Democratic voters, while McDaniel had argued that Cochran was part of a blight of federal overspending.

In a brief speech, Cochran credited those who helped. "It's a group effort, it's not a solo, and so we all have a right to be proud of our state tonight."

The victory for a stalwart of the Appropriations Committee was a fresh blow to the tea party movement, which spent millions to cast aside Cochran, a mainstream Republican who won a U.S. House seat in President Richard Nixon's GOP wave of 1972.

Cochran's appeal to non-Republicans in the open primary infuriated McDaniel and prompted tea partyers - as well as the NAACP and the Justice Department - to keep tabs on who was voting.

Amy Kremer, a former chairwoman of the Tea Party Express, warned in a tweet late Tuesday night that if Cochran won, the "GOP is done," saying Cochran supporters and Democrats had "teamed up ... to steal a race."

The Mississippi contest was the marquee race on a busy June primary day that included New York, Oklahoma, Colorado, Maryland, and Utah. In a special House election on Florida's Gulf Coast, voters chose Republican businessman Curt Clawson to replace former Rep. Trey Radel, who resigned in January after pleading guilty to cocaine possession.

In another blow to the tea party, two-term Rep. James Lankford of Oklahoma won the GOP nomination in the race to succeed Sen. Tom Coburn, who is stepping down with two years left in his term. In the solidly Republican state, Lankford is all but assured of becoming the next senator. It was the first time in recent history that both Oklahoma Senate seats were on the ballot at the same time. The state's other senator, James J. Inhofe, easily won his GOP primary.

A member of the House GOP leadership, Lankford defeated T.W. Shannon, a member of the Chickasaw Nation and the state's first black House speaker. National tea party groups and the Senate Conservatives Fund had backed Shannon, who also had the support of Sarah Palin and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

In New York's Harlem and upper Manhattan, Democratic Rep. Charles B. Rangel, 84, a 22-term congressman and the third-most-senior House member, led State Sen. Adriano Espaillat, 47.5 percent to 43.5 percent, with 99 percent of precincts reporting.

Rangel, one of the founders of the Congressional Black Caucus, drew criticism last month when he dismissed Espaillat, 59, as a candidate whose only accomplishment was to be a Dominican in a majority Latino district.

In Colorado, former Rep. Bob Beauprez won a crowded gubernatorial primary that included 2008 presidential candidate Tom Tancredo, an immigration opponent. That was welcome news to national Republicans who fear that Tancredo could be a drag on the GOP ticket in November. The winner will face Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper.

In Maryland, Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, an African American, won the Democratic primary for governor as the state chose a successor to Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley, who is considering a 2016 presidential bid.