JACKSON — Attorneys for Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran are asking the state Supreme Court to throw out a rival’s attempt to overturn the senator’s Republican primary victory.
Cochran’s team filed documents late Wednesday with the court asserting that a circuit judge correctly dismissed a lawsuit by state Sen. Chris McDaniel. In their own filing, Cochran’s attorneys denied the arguments raised by McDaniel.
Judge Hollis McGehee ruled last month that McDaniel waited too long to challenge results of the June 24 Republican primary runoff. In doing so, McGehee agreed with Cochran’s attorneys, who cited a 1959 Mississippi Supreme Court ruling that said a candidate had 20 days to appeal a loss in a multi-county election.
McDaniel’s attorneys argue that Mississippi election laws were substantially rewritten in 1986 and current law does not include a timetable for challenging a loss.
Certified results show Cochran defeated McDaniel by 7,667 votes on June 24. The runoff came three weeks after the tea party-backed McDaniel had led a three-person primary.
A challenge to a district or state-wide primary election contest must be initiated within 20 days of the election, Cochran’s attorney Phil B. Abernethy argues in the brief.
He continues, “McDaniel did not initiate his challenge until 41 days after the primary runoff election, on Aug. 4, 2014.”
Abernethy said the 1986 rewrite of election laws did not disturb the required 20-day time period to appeal an election results, which was first put in the statutes in 1908 and upheld in previous court decisions.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.