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Legal challenges to the U.S. Senate race in Mississippi, 2014

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In 2014, Mississippi's U.S. Senate election incumbent Thad Cochran (R) defeated Chris McDaniel (R) in the runoff for the Republican primary.

In the aftermath of the runoff, McDaniel said that a number of ballots cast were ineligible under state law as some of these voters were likely Democratic voters.[1] Consequently, he filed a lawsuit challenging the validity of the election results. McDaniel called for either his certification as winner or for a new election.[2]

Cochran's legal team challenged the validity of the lawsuit, saying that McDaniel filed the suit after the state's deadline to challenge elections had passed.[3] A judge agreed and accepted Cochran's team's motion to dismiss.[4] McDaniel then filed an appeal with the state Supreme Court.[5] The court concurred with Cochran's team and dismissed McDaniel's case.[6]

In addition to Chris McDaniel's lawsuit, a group called True the Vote filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of State of Mississippi arguing they had been denied access to voter records.[7]

This page covers the following lawsuits:

  • True the Vote's lawsuit against the Mississippi Secretary of State and the Republican Party of Mississippi, arguing that they were denied access to voting records that should have been released based on the National Voter Registration Act Of 1993 (NVRA).

Primary results

June 3, 2014

U.S. Senate, Mississippi Republican Primary, 2014
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngChris McDaniel 49.5% 157,733
Green check mark transparent.pngThad Cochran Incumbent 49% 156,315
Thomas Carey 1.5% 4,854
Total Votes 318,902
Source: Mississippi Secretary of State - Official Republican primary results

June 24, 2014

U.S. Senate, Mississippi Runoff Republican Primary, 2014
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngThad Cochran Incumbent 51% 194,932
Chris McDaniel 49% 187,265
Total Votes 382,197
Source: Mississippi Secretary of State - Official Republican runoff primary results

Legal challenges

Increased runoff turnout

In the runoff for the Republican nomination for Mississippi's U.S. Senate seat, incumbent Thad Cochran increased his vote totals by 38,000, and state Sen. Chris McDaniel increased his share by 30,000.

According to one article from FiveThirty-Eight, "Cochran’s campaign explicitly tried to increase his turnout in the runoff by bringing Democratic-leaning African-Americans to the polls."[8] FiveThirty-Eight's analysis showed that the counties in which Cochran gained the newest voters were counties with over a 69 percent African-American population. Mississippi election law said it was legal for Democratic voters to vote in the runoff for Cochran, provided they had not previously voted in the Democratic primary election.[8]

McDaniel criticized Cochran's strategy, saying that these votes were cast in violation of state law. He said that about 35,000 of Cochran's votes came from Democratic voters and that many of those voters had voted illegally in one of two ways: either by voting Democratic in the initial primary and Republican in the runoff or by voting Republican in the primary while intending to vote Democratic in the general election.[1] Because Mississippi law had no provision to allow for a recount, McDaniel's only option was to file a legal complaint.[9][10]

Initial lawsuits with state party

On August 4, 2014, McDaniel announced that he would challenge the runoff results by calling for a public hearing of the Mississippi GOP's central committee. If this had occurred, McDaniel would have presented his evidence to the committee, at which point the 52 members would have voted on whether or not the alleged voter fraud would have invalidated the results. According to McDaniel's attorney, Mitch Tyner, McDaniel was "not asking for another election but to be declared the proper winner of the runoff."[11]

Chris McDaniel
Thad Cochran

On August 6, 2014, Joe Nosef, chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party, wrote a letter to Tyner stating that the GOP would not hear McDaniel's case because it had insufficient time to review the evidence and make a decision. Instead, Nosef encouraged McDaniel to take his complaint to court, stating, "The only way to ensure the integrity of the election process and provide a prudent review of this matter is in a court of law. The public judicial process will protect the rights of the voters as well as both candidates."[12]

Case moves to court

After the party declined to hear his case, McDaniel filed his election challenge on August 14 with the Jones County circuit court. The first part of the petition asked for an injunction "suspending and holding in abeyance the placement of Senator Cochran's name on the ballot for the General Election in November until such time as this Complaint can be heard." The latter part requested that "counties proved to have permitted widespread vote fraud and violations of Mississippi election law have their results from the June 24 primary runoff invalidated and removed from the statewide count." McDaniel asked the court to declare him the winner or call for a new runoff election.[13]

The following day, the Mississippi Supreme Court appointed retired chancery judge, Hollis McGehee, to oversee the case.[14] McGehee denied the first part of McDaniel's request, stating that because McDaniel did not sue Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann (R), preparations of the ballot would continue as planned, using Cochran's name. Mississippi law allowed for a new primary election to be called even after the general election had been held.[15]

On August 21, Cochran's attorneys requested that the lawsuit be dismissed because McDaniel had filed the complaint too late, citing a 1959 state Supreme Court ruling stating that candidates had only 20 days after a primary to challenge the election. According to this standard, McDaniel would have had to have filed his complaint by July 27. He filed 21 days after this deadline.[16] McDaniel's legal team argued that the election laws cited in the 1959 court decision had been repealed and their response stated, "Changes in law since 1959 make it clear that the (1959 ruling) does not apply to current Mississippi law."[17]

Judge Hollis McGehee accepted Cochran's motion to dismiss the lawsuit on August 29, 2014, agreeing that the 1959 court decision was still applicable because the law had not been changed substantially since the ruling. McDaniel still had the option to take his case to the state Supreme Court. McDaniel's attorney, Mitch Tyner, filed an appeal with the state Supreme Court on September 5.[18]

On September 24, 2014, Cochran asked that the state Supreme Court dismiss the lawsuit, reiterating its arguments about the timeliness of the suit.[19][20] Shortly before Cochran filed the request, McDaniel's spokesman said that Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann (R) had stated on record that there was no deadline for filing an election challenge and that Hosemann "completely agreed with Chris McDaniel in that §23-15-923 which applies to statewide elections does not delineate a deadline for filing a challenge."[21]

State supreme court rules

The state Supreme Court ruled on October 24, 2014, to uphold the decision of the Jones County circuit court, dismissing the case on the grounds that McDaniel filed his challenge too late. The court wrote, "In 1959, the Court...determined that a candidate has twenty days following the primary to file an election contest for an office covering multiple counties. The statutes considered in 1959 have been reenacted without material change.[22] The decision was made four to two, with three justices not participating. Justices Josiah Coleman and Ann Lamar dissented.[6]

After the ruling, Cochran's legal team said, "Today's ruling by Mississippi's highest court brings an end to the challenge of the primary runoff election and reconfirms the voters' choice of Thad Cochran as the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate."[23] McDaniel conceded and said, "now is time to turn the page and work to enact true conservative change."[6]

Efforts from satellite groups

True the Vote: On July 3, 2014, a group called True the Vote filed a lawsuit against the Mississippi Secretary of State and the Republican Party of Mississippi on the grounds that they were denied access to voting records in two counties and found evidence of voter fraud in others.[7]Although they had to withdraw their lawsuit on July 8 because they had filed it in the wrong court, they re-filed it on July 9 in the Southern District.[24] A hearing was set in the federal court on July 24, 2014, but U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate removed himself from the case, at which point Judge Nancy Atlas was appointed in his place.[25] Atlas did not rule on the case that same day, but instead asked that both sides prepare briefs.[26] Ultimately, Atlas criticized True the Vote for contending that the case was about voter fraud, when it was actually about obtaining information. She stated, "This is not a case of voter fraud. It's whether the National Voter Registration Act was complied with and whether it preempts state statute. This case is about transparency of the voter process with the counter issue of voter privacy."[27]

On August 29, 2014, Judge Atlas ruled against True the Vote, concluding, "Plaintiffs are not entitled to any of the Requested Documents they seek in this case under the NVRA. Neither poll books nor absentee ballot applications and envelopes fall within the NVRA Public Disclosure Provision."[28] Atlas added that the requested information could be used to violate voters' privacy.[29]

FreedomWorks: FreedomWorks for America also took action in McDaniel's defense, asking federal officials to investigate the election. They said that they had heard about "text messages and communications allegedly from the Thad Cochran campaign that, if true, catch the campaign breaking election law and buying votes in the GOP runoff election."[30]

Senate Conservatives Fund: On July 8, 2014, the Senate Conservatives Fund came to McDaniel's aid as well, contributing $70,000 to McDaniel's investigation for voter fraud. McDaniel's campaign also began offering a $1,000 reward to anyone who presented evidence of the alleged fraud.[31]

Timeline of events

  • June 3, 2014: McDaniel and Cochran competed for the Republican nomination in Mississippi's primary election. McDaniel won 157,733 votes to Cochran's 156,315, but McDaniel did not obtain the 50 percent of votes necessary to avoid a runoff election.[32]
  • June 24, 2014: Cochran defeated McDaniel in the runoff primary, with 194,932 votes to McDaniel's 187,265.[33]
  • July 1, 2014: True the Vote sued the Republican Party of Mississippi and the Mississippi Secretary of State, Delbert Hosemann, for failing to release the voting records necessary for an investigation of voter fraud in the Cochran vs. McDaniel runoff. The lawsuit argued that the records should have been released under the National Voter Registration Act Of 1993 (NVRA).[34]
  • July 3, 2014: McDaniel notified Cochran of his plans to challenge the primary runoff results due to illegitimate crossover votes from people who had voted in the Democratic primary and the Republican runoff.[35]
  • July 8, 2014: True the Vote withdrew their lawsuit without prejudice.[36]
  • July 9, 2014: True the Vote refiled their lawsuit in Jackson, in the Southern District, adding election commissions in Copiah, Hinds, Jefferson Davis, Lauderdale, Leake, Madison, Rankin, Simpson and Yazoo counties to the list of defendants.[24]
  • July 24, 2014: Judge Nancy Atlas presided over a hearing for True the Vote's lawsuit, but did not make a ruling on the case.[26]
  • August 4, 2014: McDaniel confirmed at a news conference that he would challenge the runoff results by calling for a public hearing of the Mississippi GOP’s central committee.[11]
  • August 6, 2014: In a letter to McDaniel's attorney, Joe Nosef, chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party, refused to hear McDaniel's case in a GOP hearing due to the short amount of time they would have to make a decision. He suggested instead that McDaniel take the case to court.[37]
  • August 14, 2014: McDaniel formally filed a legal challenge in the Jones County circuit court, asking to delay adding Cochran's name to the general election ballot and calling for a new primary runoff.[38]
  • August 15, 2014: The chief justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court appointed retired chancery judge, Hollis McGehee, to oversee McDaniel's case.[14]
  • August 20, 2014: Judge McGehee refused to grant McDaniel's request to prevent Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann from preparing the ballots with Cochran's name, on the grounds that McDaniel did not sue Hosemann.[15]
  • August 21, 2014: Cochran's attorneys filed papers asking that the lawsuit be dismissed because McDaniel filed it too late. The papers also stated that McDaniel should not have sued Cochran, as he had no control over the election process.[15]
  • August 25, 2014: McDaniel's legal team submitted a response to Cochran's motion to dismiss the lawsuit. The response argued that challenges to a state-wide primary election do not have to be filed within a certain time frame following the election.[17]
  • August 29, 2014: Judge Hollis McGehee dismissed the election challenge. The McDaniel campaign scheduled a news conference for September 2, at which McDaniel planned to announce whether or not he would file an appeal with the Mississippi Supreme Court.[39] McDaniel later pushed back the news conference, needing more time to make the decision.[40]
  • August 29, 2014: Judge Nancy Atlas ruled against True the Vote's lawsuit, stating that the requested voter information was not required to be disclosed under the National Voter Registration Act Of 1993 (NVRA).[29]
  • September 24, 2014: Cochran filed papers with the state Supreme Court asking that McDaniel's lawsuit be dismissed, as it had been in the Jones County circuit court.[19]
  • October 24, 2014: The state Supreme Court ruled to uphold the decision of the Jones County circuit court to dismiss McDaniel's lawsuit against Cochran. Four justices concurred with the decision, while two dissented and three did not participate. The two dissenting were Justices Josiah Coleman and Ann Lamar.[6]

Republican response

Criticism

  • Conservative columnist Ann Coulter called on McDaniel supporters to "get over Cochran." She explained, "When a U.S. president is using the IRS to terrify his political enemies, destroying American health care and opening our southern border to millions of future welfare-collecting, Democratic voters from the Third World, why is a dime's worth of money being wasted on trying to replace the Republican senator from Mississippi with a slightly different Republican?"[42]
  • Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann referred to McDaniel's lawsuit as a "distraction," adding, "There's no reason for Mississippi to be involved in this litigation, and I'm hopeful we won't be."[43] Hoseman praised Judge Atlas' ruling against True the Vote, stating, "In the political pandemonium of the last several months, our voters should be encouraged Mississippi’s laws protecting privacy were not preempted by Federal law or the U.S. Constitution."[44]
  • Former Club for Growth President Chris Chocola stated, "If there’s clearly evidence of wrongdoing, that there were ballot integrity issues I suppose it would be appropriate for him to pursue those, but it would have to be clear. I don’t know that they’re clear at this point.”[45]

Support

  • Former Alaska governor and U.S. vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin posted on Facebook that she supported an investigation of voter fraud in the runoff. She wrote, "I told Chris McDaniel last night that I stand with his effort to get to the bottom of this – he needs to know average, but tremendously concerned, citizens want to make sure the integrity of last night’s results in Mississippi are verified."[46]

Democratic response

  • Travis Childers, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate from Mississippi and Thad Cochran's general election challenger, congratulated Cochran on the dismissal of McDaniel's lawsuit in circuit court. Childers stated, "I congratulate Senator Cochran on his win today in court. The allegations of the past couple months have raised serious questions about the electoral process, and I strongly believe we must ensure that every vote in Mississippi counts."[47]

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Newsmax, "Chris McDaniel Urged to Run as Write-In Candidate in Mississippi," accessed July 2, 2014
  2. ↑ ftpcontent4, "McDaniel Petition," accessed August 21, 2014
  3. ↑ The Hill, "Cochran attorneys want McDaniel runoff challenge dismissed," accessed August 25, 2014
  4. ↑ Scribd, "Motion to Dismiss," accessed January 8, 2025
  5. ↑ [Scribd, "Notice of Appeal," accessed January 8, 2025
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 The Clarion-Ledger, "State Supreme Court rejects McDaniel appeal," accessed November 12, 2014
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Roll Call, "Conservative Lawsuit Challenges Cochran Runoff Win," accessed July 3, 2014
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 FiveThirtyEight, "It Looks Like African-Americans Really Did Help Thad Cochran Win," accessed June 27, 2014
  9. ↑ Talking Points Memo, "McDaniel's Bizarre Plan To Challenge The Senate Race In Mississippi," accessed July 2, 2014
  10. ↑ The Washington Post, "Chris McDaniel’s last hopes hinge on nine more votes — in a courtroom," accessed August 6, 2014
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Politico, "Chris McDaniel challenges Mississippi Senate runoff," accessed August 6, 2014
  12. ↑ Dropbox, "Chairman Nosef's Letter to Mitch Tyner," accessed August 21, 2014
  13. ↑ ftpcontent4, "McDaniel Petition," accessed August 21, 2014
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 The Magnolia Tribune, "Retired Chancellor Hollis McGehee of Lucedale appointed to hear," August 15, 2014 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "judge" defined multiple times with different content
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Hattiesburg American, "Cochran: Lawsuit should be dismissed," accessed August 25, 2014
  16. ↑ The Hill, "Cochran attorneys want McDaniel runoff challenge dismissed," accessed August 25, 2014
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 The Clarion-Ledger, "McDaniel says he didn't wait too late to file lawsuit," accessed August 28, 2014
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 The Clarion-Ledger, "McDaniel lawyer confident with appeal," accessed September 9, 2014
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Mississippi Business Journal, "Cochran’s legal counsel asks Court to toss McDaniel’s lawsuit," accessed September 30, 2014
  20. ↑ Clarion-Ledger, "Cochran team asks Miss. court to reject challenge," September 25, 2014
  21. ↑ The Clarion-Ledger, "Spokesman: Chris McDaniel's appeal gets a boost," accessed September 30, 2014
  22. ↑ Mississippi Supreme Court, "Chris McDaniel vs. Thad Cochran,' accessed December 28, 2024
  23. ↑ WLBT, "Supreme Court issues decision in McDaniel versus Cochran," October 24, 2014
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Scribd, "True the Vote v. Mississippi Complaint," accessed July 10, 2014
  25. ↑ The Clarion-Ledger, "Hearing set in True the vote lawsuit," accessed August 6, 2014
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 MS News Now, "True the Vote suit still pending in federal court," accessed August 6, 2014
  27. ↑ Talking Points Memo, "Judge Grills True The Vote On Motives Behind Mississippi Lawsuit," accessed August 6, 2014
  28. ↑ Scribd, "True the Vote Loses," accessed September 3, 2014
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Hattiesburg American, "US judge: Voters' birthdates are not public record," accessed September 3, 2014
  30. ↑ The Washington Times, "Chris McDaniel, True the Vote challenge Mississippi primary vote," accessed July 3, 2014
  31. ↑ Yahoo! News, "The Senate Conservatives Fund sent $70,000 to McDaniel to challenge Mississippi runoff election results," accessed July 9, 2014
  32. ↑ Mississippi Secretary of State, "2014 Republican Primary Results," accessed July 10, 2014
  33. ↑ Mississippi Secretary of State, "2014 Republican Primary Runoff Results," accessed July 10, 2014
  34. ↑ Brenner Brief, "True the Vote v. Mississippi Complaint," accessed July 10, 2014
  35. ↑ CNN, "McDaniel plans to challenge Mississippi runoff result," accessed July 10, 2014
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 The Clarion Ledger, "True the Vote drops lawsuit, likely to refile in Jackson," accessed July 10, 2014
  37. ↑ Jackson Free Press, "MS GOP Response to McDaniel: Er ... Try Court?" accessed August 21, 2014
  38. ↑ The Washington Times, "Chris McDaniel files a legal challenge to Thad Cochran’s Mississippi victory," accessed August 21, 2014
  39. ↑ WLOX13, "Judge dismisses McDaniel election challenge," August 29, 2014
  40. ↑ Gulf Live, "Chris McDaniel pushes back announcement on status of election lawsuit until Wednesday," accessed September 3, 2014
  41. ↑ CNN Politics, "Chris McDaniel takes primary fight with Thad Cochran to Mississippi high court," accessed September 9, 2014
  42. ↑ The Clarion-Ledger, "Coulter: McDaniel supporters need to get over Cochran," accessed August 21, 2014
  43. ↑ WLOX 13, "Hosemann calls McDaniel lawsuit a 'distraction'," accessed August 21, 2014
  44. ↑ Y'all Politics, "Hosemann statement on True the Vote decision," accessed September 3, 2014
  45. ↑ The Wall Street Journal, "Club for Growth President: McDaniel Needs ‘Clear’ Evidence in Mississippi," accessed August 21, 2014
  46. ↑ Talking Points Memo, "Palin: Mississippi Runoff Should Be Investigated For Illegal Voting," accessed August 21, 2014
  47. ↑ Jackson Free Press, "Childers Responds to McDaniel Lawsuit Dismissal," accessed September 3, 2014
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