Lifelong Democrat Jackie Bland is doing something she never thought she'd do: Urge people to vote for a Republican. Bland supports Thad Cochran, a six-term Mississippi senator who's trying to fend off a fierce tea party challenge to his seat from Chris McDaniel as voting got underway in Tuesday's primary runoff. Two weeks ago, Bland helped put up 5,000 pro-Cochran posters in black communities and talk to people about his record. "We wanted to raise the awareness to African-Americans that we do have a stake in this runoff election," she said. She pointed to Cochran's efforts to secure federal funds for jobs, Head Start programs and health centers relied upon by African-Americans in the state.
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GOP Sen. Thad Cochran hopes African-American Democrats can help him keep his seat
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Cochran is in bitter runoff battle with tea party-backed challenger Chris McDaniel
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McDaniel says Cochran's long tenure in Washington makes him part of status quo
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Cochran is banking on that tenure, and the benefits it provides back home
Sources familiar with Cochran's campaign strategy say they hope that a lot of Republicans who stayed home during the primary, thinking @placeholder would be fine, will show up at the polls.