JACKSON, Miss. – The Mississippi Supreme Court said Thursday it would decide later this month whether it will revive State Senator Chris McDaniel’s lawsuit challenging his Republican Party primary election loss to incumbent U-S Senator Thad Cochran.
Circuit Court Judge Hollis McGhee dismissed the suit in August, siding with Cochran’s lawyers who argued McDaniel waited too late to challenge.
Lawyers for McDaniel told State Supreme Court Justices Thursday that under state laws, there is no deadline to file an election challenge and the lawsuit should be reinstated. Cochran’s team maintained that under a 1959 State Supreme Court ruling, McDaniel had 20 days; and that McDaniel filed his challenge 21 days after the deadline.
Neither McDaniel nor Cochran were at Thursday’s hearings. Justices gave no indication when they would make a decision
