Via the Associated Press:
Mississippi state Sen. Chris McDaniel says the Republican Party needs to be “purged” of people who use campaign techniques that he considers racially inflammatory.
McDaniel lost the Republican primary runoff last month to six-term U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, but he says he intends to challenge that loss.
In an interview with American Family Radio, McDaniel says Cochran supporters “hired Democratic operatives to go out into Democratic communities and call me a racist.” He called that “despicable.”
Cochran campaign spokesman Jordan Russell tells The Associated Press that Cochran received support from black voters “because of a 40-year relationship built on respect and fairness.”
Russell says McDaniel might have won the election by asking African-Americans to support him rather than complaining about their participating in the process.