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2014 GOP Senate primaries to watch

Some tea party nominees could be weak general election candidates. Others could change the Senate. Here are six key primaries to watch.

4. Mississippi (June 24)

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.

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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