Six-term Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran narrowly won a bitterly contested Republican primary runoff battle Tuesday against an insurgent tea party candidate.
Cochran, 76, had previously lost to the tea party darling, state Sen. Chris McDaniel, 41, in a close Republican primary three weeks ago.
But since neither candidate received 50 percent of the vote, both entered a runoff.
Cochran may have ultimately topped McDaniel by looking to crossover Democrats for support.
The senator started courting Dems — who are permitted to cast ballots under Mississippi election law as long as they didn’t vote in their own party’s primary — when a poll was released after the initial battle showing McDaniel leading Cochran 52 percent to 44 percent.
Meanwhile, Republican voters in Colorado, Oklahoma and South Carolina also chose establishment conservatives over tea party insurgents.
Right-wing firebrand and former Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo was defeated by former Rep. Bob Beauprez for the GOP gubernatorial nomination.
Oklahoma voters opted for Rep. James Lankford in the race to replace retiring Sen. Tom Coburn despite polls showing former state House Speaker T.W. Shannon with an advantage.
In South Carolina, Attorney General Henry McMaster won a lieutenant governor’s primary that came under scrutiny after two former presidential contenders picked sides.
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum stumped with McMaster while former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee campaigned with businessman Mike Campbell.