GOP civil war is on in Mississippi, as Sen. Wicker draws a challenge

 WASHINGTON — Hostilities are about to resume in the Republican civil war — this time, in Mississippi.

State Sen. Chris McDaniel, a conservative who narrowly lost a primary challenge to U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran in 2014, will announce this week that he's running against the state's other Republican senator, Roger Wicker, according to a person familiar with McDaniel's plans.

Republicans in Mississippi, and at the national level, already are bracing for an ugly fight — one that figures to pit the activist base against an incumbent that President Donald Trump is expected to support.

In 2014, McDaniel beat Cochran in the first round of primary balloting but lost in a runoff after Cochran successfully courted Democrats to register and vote in the GOP race.

Tea party activists complained bitterly about tactics used by Cochran and his establishment supporters, including the Washington arm of the GOP. They created a hashtag, #RememberMississippi, to commemorate their ire; it is also the name of a super PAC that raised more than $1 million last year, nearly half of it from Republican mega-donor Robert Mercer, to help coax McDaniel into the race.


Source : nbcnews