The 2014 primary season ends (Sept. 9: DE, MA, NH, NY, RI)

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Gene Taylor is winning big on the Coast. Too bad the district extends all the way up to Jones County.

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McDaniel probably still nets 3-4000 notes in Jones County alone. But I feel like Cochran's going to pull this out tonight.

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hopefully Childers will take down his campaign site.

WTF? He's not just going to quit...

Maybe Cochran will be 2006 Bunning all over again. I doubt it, but you never know...

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F***ing Jones County...

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No more votes out in DeSoto County and McDaniel's at 49.9%.

Rankin will be decisive, but don't underestimate the importance of the remaining vote in Warren, Pontotoc, Lafayette, and Oktibbeha County.  

Yes, Cochran should do well in Warren.

No, I wouldn't think so...

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Heart pounding. Stomach in knots.

Childers vs. McDaniel would be extremely entertaining, but SUCH a huge downside if things don't go our way. I just wanted Cochran to win and have it be over...

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Heart pounding. Stomach in knots.

Childers vs. McDaniel would be extremely entertaining, but SUCH a huge downside if things don't go our way. I just wanted Cochran to win and have it be over...

Two words: Technicolor yawn.

Is that a reference to something?

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I'll just say, no matter who wins tonight (or if it goes to a runoff), Thad Cochran is the Richard Lugar of 2014.

And hopefully Travis Childers will be the Joe Donnelly of 2014.

Are you accounting for Mississippi being one of the most inelastic Republican states in the nation? McDaniel will probably still win if he is the nominee.

Not saying Childers will win, but the "Mississippi is inelastic" meme only applies to presidential elections. Remember that as late as 2008 3 of Mississippi's 4 districts sent Democrats to the House.

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I'll just say, no matter who wins tonight (or if it goes to a runoff), Thad Cochran is the Richard Lugar of 2014.

And hopefully Travis Childers will be the Joe Donnelly of 2014.

Are you accounting for Mississippi being one of the most inelastic Republican states in the nation? McDaniel will probably still win if he is the nominee.

Not saying Childers will win, but the "Mississippi is inelastic" meme only applies to presidential elections. Remember that as late as 2008 3 of Mississippi's 4 districts sent Democrats to the House.

Musgrove only ran 2 points ahead of Obama in 2008.  I'm not holding my breath for a Childers win.

And Childers ran, what, 25?, points ahead of Obama in 2008?

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I'll just say, no matter who wins tonight (or if it goes to a runoff), Thad Cochran is the Richard Lugar of 2014.

And hopefully Travis Childers will be the Joe Donnelly of 2014.

Are you accounting for Mississippi being one of the most inelastic Republican states in the nation? McDaniel will probably still win if he is the nominee.

Not saying Childers will win, but the "Mississippi is inelastic" meme only applies to presidential elections. Remember that as late as 2008 3 of Mississippi's 4 districts sent Democrats to the House.

Well, that's true, but it has been a couple of decades since Mississippi has sent a Democrat to the Senate. 2014 is not going to be the year that changes.

It's McDaniel's to lose, no doubt. But he's a far bigger buffoon than all the other buffoons the Tea Party has put up in other states and is extremely gaffe-prone. We definitely don't have all the facts on photogate, and more Tea Party leaders/prominent McDaniel supporters are likely to be implicated.

At the very least, Mississippi jumps to #1 on the most likely Democratic pickups this year if McDaniel pulls it out. Childers just has to sit back and see if McDaniel blows it.

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I'll just say, no matter who wins tonight (or if it goes to a runoff), Thad Cochran is the Richard Lugar of 2014.

And hopefully Travis Childers will be the Joe Donnelly of 2014.

Are you accounting for Mississippi being one of the most inelastic Republican states in the nation? McDaniel will probably still win if he is the nominee.

Probably. But Mourdock was favored as well. Considering McDaniel is a racist neoconfederate, I'd say chances are pretty high he will make an Akin/Mourdock gaffe.

Well, it is possible that both Akin and Mourdock could have won in Mississippi. That wouldn't be a good thing by any stretch, but still, it could happen...

Mourdock would easily have won Mississippi since he only lost Indiana by 6.

Akin, not so much.........

Mississippi was only about 1 point more Republican than Indiana in 2012.

(And now I'm done playing devil's advocate. I realize Childers has a tough road ahead. But McDaniel will definitely make another major gaffe or 2, and this photo scandal's not going away.)

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Also, if it ends up being a runoff, Cochran is going to throw everything besides the kitchen sink at McDaniel, and vice versa. It's going to get ugly. This will help Childers.

And, all of this Republican money pouring into Mississippi for the runoff is not going to be pouring into Arkansas, Louisiana, etc., so that's a major plus even if Republicans hold the state in November.

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If it goes to a runoff, will Dems/indies be able to vote in it?

Not if we didn't vote in it today. I voted in the Democratic primary today for Childers, so I won't be able to vote in the runoff.

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Covington County is scary. McDaniel may net 1000 or more votes there.

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McDaniel down to 49.4%. Needs to gain about 3000 to avoid a runoff.

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The only way to avoid a runoff now is if Covington County nets 2500-3000 for McDaniel and McDaniel wins big in the remaining Rankin precincts. Not impossible, but not likely.

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"McDaniel 49.4" is a Worldwide Trend on Twitter. There must be a lot of us political junkies out there.

This is the most interesting political thing to come out of Mississippi since...uh...wait, I'll think of something...

Amendment 26 (Personhood), obviously.

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Never mind: McDaniel camp apparently reported them. 1823 McDaniel, 699 Cochran. The commish is a she, FWIW.

Well that's not going to be enough to avoid a runoff.

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In the future, maybe the MS GOP won't certify jokes like Carey. Thanks to him, Mississippi taxpayers must fund another statewide election.

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Could Thad win the runoff?

Yes, but I doubt it. McDaniel's voters are a lot more fired up, especially now.

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Cochran certainly owes Taylor a fruit basket.

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Any chance that McDaniel's success inspires something similar in South Carolina? Does the South Carolina Democratic Party have a candidate who can give them a shot against a crazy Tea Partier?

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Am I the only Democrat who's not happy about this? Reason and moderation lost, the Tea Party is back. Ugh.

No, Republican turmoil is good for Democrats. Crazy Tea Party candidates with Akin potential are good for Democrats.

This guy's voting record isn't going to be substantially different than Cantor's, and it's only 1 vote anyway. But any national bad news he can create for the Republicans is good for us.

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If Cochran can hold the lead when Jones County comes in, he should be OK.  Feeling pretty good about this right now...

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Heart starting to pound. Definitely scared of what's going to come out of Jones County...