RELEASE: If Chris McDaniel Won’t Vote, Why Should Mississippians Vote For Him?
Today, U.S. Senator Thad Cochran’s re-election campaign launched a new television ad asking Mississippians to consider this important question in this election: If Chris McDaniel won’t vote, why should we vote for him?
According to official records from the state of Mississippi’s Statewide Election Management System (SEMS), Chris McDaniel has a habit of missing important votes—in critical elections and in his job as a State Senator.
In 2003, Mississippi Republicans were working hard to nominate Haley Barbour in the Republican primary to defeat Democrat Governor Ronnie Musgrove. But Chris McDaniel voted in the Democrat primary instead.
In 2004, President George W. Bush was being challenged in the general election by liberal Democrat U.S. Senator John Kerry. Chris McDaniel did not vote in that election.
And in 2008, Republicans in Mississippi were nominating a candidate in the primary to take on Barack Obama in the Presidential election. Chris McDaniel did not vote in that election, either.
Even when Chris McDaniel is paid to vote in his job as a State Senator, news reports show McDaniel’s record for skipping votes is one of the worst this year. Earlier this year during the Mississippi legislative session, news reports outlined how McDaniel skipped important votes in the State Senate that included a pro-life bill and a bill highly touted by Governor Phil Bryant regarding adding the national motto “In God We Trust” to the official state seal. In both instances, McDaniel did not vote because he was campaigning at events—not in Mississippi, but in Washington, D.C.
One news report outlined how missing so many votes in the Mississippi legislature in January and February earned McDaniel the reputation as “the fifth-most truant Mississippi state senator.”
“Chris McDaniel has inexplicably missed voting in some of the most important Republican elections in Mississippi over the past ten years, and his own voting record in the State Senate is just as bad,” said Jordan Russell, Communications Director for U.S. Senator Thad Cochran’s campaign. “Conservatives in Mississippi remember that 2003 was a critical Republican primary election that helped lead to major victories for many years to come. And in critical presidential elections in the 2004 general as well as the Republican primary in 2008, clearly those were times when Republicans here were working hard to make sure we had the best chance to win the White House. But in all three of these key elections, Chris McDaniel did not vote. That’s why the question Mississippians will consider between now and the June 3 primary election is simple. If Chris McDaniel won’t vote, why should we vote for him?”
Thad Cochran campaign
4/15/14
Magnolia Tribune
