GOP Sen. Cochran forced into runoff against Tea Party-backed challenger

Six-term Mississippi GOP Sen. Thad Cochran has been forced into a runoff with Tea Party-backed challenger Chris McDaniel, after neither candidate was able to win 50 percent of the vote and clinch an outright victory in Tuesday’s primary.

With most precincts reporting and an unknown number of mail-in and provisional ballots yet to be counted, unofficial results showed McDaniel, a state senator, with a slight