Jackson Free Press

UPDATE 10:06PM: AP calls it for Cochran

UPDATE 10:05PM: 97% reporting: Cochran 51%, McDaniel 49% -- Cochran's lead at 4455 votes unofficially.

UPDATE 9:52PM: 97% reporting: Cochran 51%, McDaniel 49% -- Cochran's lead at 5662 votes unofficially.

UPDATE 9:45PM: 95% reporting: Cochran 51%, McDaniel 49% -- Cochran's lead at 4044 votes unofficially.

UPDATE 9:42PM: 95% reporting: Cochran 51%, McDaniel 49% -- Cochran's lead at 3997 votes unofficially.

UPDATE 9:34PM: 92% reporting: Cochran 50%, McDaniel 50% -- Cochran's lead at 2400 votes unofficially.

UPDATE 9:20PM: 89% reporting: After flirting momentarily with 50/50, it's back at Cochran 51%, McDaniel 49% -- Cochran's lead at 4238 votes unofficially.

UPDATE 9:16PM: 84% reporting: Cochran 51%, McDaniel 49% -- Cochran's lead at 3341 votes unofficially.

UPDATE 9:06PM: 81% reporting: Cochran 51%, McDaniel 49% -- Cochran's lead at 6269 unofficially.

UPDATE 9:05PM: 79% reporting: Cochran 51%, McDaniel 49% -- Cochran's lead at 3662 votes according to AP's numbers.

UPDATE 8:59PM: 77% reporting; Cochran 52%, McDaniel 48% -- Cochran's lead at 7618 unofficially based on AP's numbers.

UPDATE 8:55PM: 76% reporting; Cochran 52%, McDaniel 48% -- Cochran's lead lose a little ground at 7433 unofficially based on AP's numbers.

UPDATE 8:50PM: 69% reporting; Cochran 52%, McDaniel 48% -- Cochran's lead is at 9235 based unofficially on AP's numbers.

UPDATE 8:47PM: 67% reporting; Cochran 52%, McDaniel 48% -- Cochran's lead has widened to 9232 unofficially based on AP's numbers.

UPDATE 8:44PM: 63% reporting; Cochran 52%, McDaniel 48%

UPDATE 8:40PM: 58% reporting; Cochran 52%, McDaniel 48%

UPDATE 8:38PM: 53% reporting; Cochran 52%, McDaniel 48%

UPDATE 8:32PM: 48% reporting; Cochran 52%, McDaniel 48%

UPDATE 8:28PM: 45% reporting; Cochran 53%, McDaniel 47%

UPDATE 8:24PM: 42% reporting; Cochran 53%, McDaniel 47%

UPDATE 8:20PM: 38% reporting; Cochran 53%, McDaniel 47%

UPDATE 8:17PM: 34% reporting; Cochran 53%, McDaniel 47%

WASHINGTON (AP) — Six-term Sen. Thad Cochran and tea party favorite Chris McDaniel dueled closely Tuesday night in the bruising, costly Mississippi primary runoff that exposed deep divisions within the Republican Party.

With 31 percent of precincts reporting, Cochran led with 54 percent to McDaniel's 46 percent in a test of whether the congressional veteran could win over voters with his seniority and Washington clout.

In a last-ditch effort, Cochran had reached out to traditionally Democratic voters — blacks and union members — in his underdog candidacy against McDaniel. Voters who cast ballots in the June 3 Democratic primary were barred from participating.

The Mississippi contest that threatened to cast aside the 76-year-old Cochran 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 New York's Harlem and upper Manhattan, 84-year-old Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel, a 22-term congressman and the third-most-senior member of the House, faced a rematch against state Sen. Adriano Espaillat, bidding to become the first Dominican-American member of Congress.

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

Two years ago, Rangel prevailed in the primary by fewer than 1,100 votes.

Despite Congress' abysmal public approval ratings, incumbents have largely prevailed midway through the primary season — with two notable exceptions.

Little-known college professor Dave Brat knocked out House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in Virginia's Republican primary this month, and Republican Rep. Ralph Hall, 91, lost in a Texas runoff to a younger Republican.

McDaniel declared as he voted Tuesday, "We are here, we're going to fight for our belief system no matter what, and we're going to reclaim Washington, D.C., one race at a time."

Cochran and his allies, including former Gov. Haley Barbour, highlighted his decades on the Appropriations Committee and his work directing billions in federal dollars to his home state, one of the poorest in the nation.

That resonated with Jeanette Tibbetts, a 73-year-old retiree.

"I'm a ninth-generation Mississippian. ... How can you live in south Mississippi and not see Thad's evidence?" asked Tibbetts, who voted in Hattiesburg on Tuesday.

Stanley D. Johnson, 55, of Byram, a family and marriage counselor who served 25 years in the Air Force, said he voted for Cochran "because he's not a tea party member."

"They don't appear to be very inclusive of minorities," said Johnson, who is black and described himself as politically conservative.

The Cochran appeal to non-Republicans infuriated McDaniel and prompted tea partyers — as well as the NAACP and the Justice Department — to keep tabs on who was voting in Mississippi. State officials also were observing the voting.

Officials said more absentee ballots had been requested for Tuesday's elections than the June 3 first round of voting, suggesting turnout might be heavier thanks to outside groups' efforts to motivate allies. McDaniel finished first in that round, but he was short of the majority needed for nomination.

Outside groups, from tea party organizations to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have spent some $12 million on the race. Former Green Bay Packers quarterback — and Gulfport, Mississippi, native — Brett Favre called the 76-year-old Cochran a "proven and respected leader" in one Chamber ad.

McDaniel, 41, an attorney and former radio host, has the strong backing of former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and the tea party movement, which sees his political approach as a change from a Washington status quo of mainstream conservatives willing to compromise.

Kellie Phipps, a 42-year-old public school teacher from Taylorsville, voted for McDaniel. "I think we need some new blood," Phipps said.

In the campaign, McDaniel has had to distance himself from past controversial remarks that he uttered about Hispanics and blacks on his radio broadcast.

The runoff winner will face Democrat Travis Childers, a former congressman, in the heavily Republican state.

The Mississippi runoff is one of several internecine GOP contests.

In Oklahoma's Senate primary, two-term Rep. James Lankford, a member of the House Republican leadership, grabbed an early lead in his battle with 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 have backed Shannon, who also had the support of Palin and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, in a crowded primary.

The winner in solidly Republican Oklahoma will replace Sen. Tom Coburn, who is retiring with two years left in his term.

National Republicans were nervously eyeing Colorado's four-way gubernatorial primary, which includes 2008 presidential candidate Tom Tancredo, an immigration opponent whose presence at the top of the ticket could undercut GOP prospects in November's Senate and House races.

In Maryland, Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown seized an early lead in the Democratic primary for governor as the state chose a successor to outgoing Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley, who is considering a 2016 presidential bid. If elected in the Democratic-leaning state, Brown would make history as one of the few African-American governors; Massachusetts' Deval Patrick is retiring.

Pettus reported from Mississippi. AP writers Jack Elliott in Morton, Mississippi, Jeff Amy in Taylorsville, Mississippi, Alex Sanz in Hattiesburg, Mississippi and Philip Elliott in Washington contributed.