Tea Party Suffers Defeat in Miss, Okla. Primaries

Mainstream Republican candidates continue to win victories over Tea Party challengers in the GOP primaries.

In Mississippi, six-term Republican Sen. Thad Cochran barely beat Chris McDaniel in a runoff election to win the nomination.
    
Tea Party and other conservative groups spent millions to unseat Cochran, who won by reaching out to traditionally Democratic voters in the final days of the race.

The McDaniel campaign is reportedly considering a legal challenge to votes cast by some Democrats, who voted as Democrats in the primary election earlier this month.  They would not have been eligible to vote for Cochran in the runoff Tuesday.

In Oklahoma, Rep. James Lankford handily beat Tea Party candidate T.W. Shannon to run for the Senate seat vacated by departing Sen. Tom Coburn.