Mississippi Senate primary becomes nastiest in the nation | Food and Environment Reporting Network

The Republican Senate primary election in Mississippi “has become the nastiest, and most personal, in the nation,” says the New York Times with one week left until election day. The race between six-term incumbent Thad Cochran, the Republican leader on the Senate Agriculture Committee, and state Sen Chris McDaniel “represents the last chance for Tea Party activists to topple an incumbent.” Each side impugns the ethics of the other.

The Mississippi story is paired in print editions with a story, “Democrats, to Counter GOP, Turn Their Focus to Local Issues in Midterms,” about Senate races. It says Democrat Mark Pryor, chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on agriculture, backs an Arkansas referendum for a higher state minimum wage although not as high as proposed nationally. It is cagey positioning, an analyst for the Cook Political Report tells the Times – Pryor can back pay for his state and “say no to the president at the same time.”