JACKSON, Miss.- Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss) won the general election fight Tuesday night.
The Associated Press called the race less than five minutes after polls closed in Mississippi. The AP said the race was called based on exit polls.
The 76-year-old incumbent will serve his seventh term in the U.S. Senate. Cochran beat out two challengers, Democratic former Congressman Travis Childers and Reform Party candidate Shawn O’Hara.
Childers thanked everyone for their support and said, “While we may have lost this election, we will never give up on the state of Mississippi.”
Democrats hopes were fueled by a razor-thin, prolonged primary battle between Cochran and Tea Party challenger State Senator Chris McDaniel.
Even after losing Hinds County to Childers, Mississippi’s most populated county, Cochran won the election by more than 100,000 votes.
Cochran said, “Thank you for your support. I look forward to working with you so we can continue to be proud of our state, heritage and confident in our future.”
