Mississippi state Sen. Chris McDaniel, the Tea Party candidate who narrowly lost a primary runoff against incumbent U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, is seeking the public's help to prove that his opponent's victory was tainted by voter fraud.
State Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Ellisville, gestures to his supporters after speaking at a rally in Flowood, Miss., Monday, June 23, 2014. AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
McDaniel refused to concede in the immediate wake of the runoff last week, and on Thursday his campaign announced that it is offering rewards for proof of voter fraud.
"The Challenge is aimed at funding fifteen $1,000 rewards which will be paid to individuals who provide evidence leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in voter fraud on or leading up to the June 24, 2014, Republican primary runoff election in Mississippi," McDaniel spokesman Noel Fritsch said in an email. "McDaniel issued the challenge on the heels of yet another allegation of criminal misconduct aimed at the Cochran campaign's effort to bring ineligible voters to the polls on June 24."
McDaniel's campaign claimed to have found over 1,000 illegitimate votes already; Cochran won the runoff by roughly 7,000 votes.
As TheBlaze has previously reported, much of the suspicion surrounding Cochran's victory has to do with the incumbent's last-minute courting of traditionally Democratic black voters — and allegations that the Cochran campaign actually paid for some votes.
While the Cochran campaign has denied buying votes, analysis of election data seems to show that Cochran's runoff win can be chalked up to likely Democratic voter turnout.
McDaniel spokesman Fritsch told the Daily Caller last week that the campaign was looking for evidence of voter fraud and could force another election, even if it can't find evidence that the fraud was widespread enough to have swayed the runoff.
“We don’t have to prove that we have 7,000 [invalid] votes," he said. "All there needs to be is enough doubt about the election, and we’re confident about that.”
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