SALTER: Cochran appears willing, able for a Senate re-election bid
Speculation over whether Thad Cochran, Mississippi’s senior U.S. senator, will seek a seventh term in office in the 2014 election continues to gain steam and remains – at the very best – speculation.
Cochran, the Republican who has held the Senate post since first winning election to succeed Democrat James O. “Big Jim” Eastland in 1978, has represented Mississippi’s interests on Capitol Hill since his days in the U.S. House in 1972 – an astounding 40 total years of service. Cochran’s three-term House career ended with his election to the U.S. Senate in 1978.
In deference to the great value Mississippi voters placed in seniority and his own belief that every little bit helped, Eastland stepped down early before his term ended to allow Cochran to gain a little extra seniority over his colleagues elected in the same election cycle.
Sid Salter
11/21/12