With just over a week left before the midterm election, Mississippi state Sen. Chris McDaniel says he may file yet another lawsuit demanding that the state GOP name him the victor of a June primary runoff election he lost to U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran.
After the Mississippi Supreme Court dismissed his latest challenge, in which he argued that he should have been declared the winner of the GOP primary even though he received fewer votes than Cochran, McDaniel’s attorney told the news arm of the American Family Association today that he may go to the federal courts.
He even floated the idea of holding a special election after the general election on Nov. 4, or whatever else it takes until McDaniel becomes U.S. senator.
An attorney for Chris McDaniel says his client might file a federal lawsuit to try to overturn his loss in June to Senator Thad Cochran in Mississippi's GOP primary runoff.
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McDaniel, who ran with tea party support and won by half a percentage point in the general primary, claims the runoff – which Cochran won by two percentage points – was tarnished by voting irregularities. Mitch Tyner is the lead attorney for the McDaniel campaign.
"We certainly disagree with the opinion of the majority," he tells OneNewsNow. "And I point out that three justices didn't participate."
So Tyner says despite the ruling, his client could still challenge the decision in federal court – even after the November 4 election. "State statutes allow the challenge to go forward even after the general election," he explains. "And we simply have to have a special election should the challenge be successful."
Tyner says the campaign may ask for the Mississippi Supreme Court to reconsider its ruling with the remaining three justices weighing in, or they might take the case to federal court.
