Special interests alarmed by Eric Cantor defeat now pouring money into Mississippi Senate runoff in last gasp attempt to re-elect 76 yr. old corporate favorite Sen. Thad Cochran over popular Mississippi State Sen. Chris McDaniel-NY Times

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Last week at least $1.3 million more poured into Cochran's side in Mississippi Senate primary runoff to be held June 24. Sen. Mitch McConnell's lobbyist group added $800,000, and the US Chamber of Commerce added $500,000.

6/14/14, "A Cantor Effect for Businesses and the G.O.P.," NY Times, Jeremy W. Peters, Shaila Dewan

"The day after Representative Eric Cantor became the first congressional leader in modern times to lose his seat in a primary, one of the biggest aftershocks occurred not on Capitol Hill or in the sprawling Richmond suburbs he has represented for more than a decade but on the New York Stock Exchange. The share price of Boeing tumbled, wiping out all the gains it had made this year, a drop analysts attributed to the startling defeat....

 

His loss at the hands of David Brat, a Tea Party-inspired economics professor...spurred business leaders to mobilize to preserve their clout in Congress. Already uneasy over what they see as an especially hostile strain of anticorporate populism growing within the conservative movement, and threatening the traditional corporate-friendly centers of power inside the Republican Party, many businesses fear the loss of some of their strongest champions on Capitol Hill.
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In addition to Mr. Brat’s victory over Mr. Cantor, another populist conservative, Chris McDaniel, nearly unseated six-term Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi, a Republican who embodies the party’s Chamber of Commerce wing, in a primary, forcing him into a runoff. Leaders in the financial community still have a formidable force of allied lawmakers and hired lobbyists in Washington....

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Those business interests, caught off guard by Mr. Cantor’s defeat, are moving quickly to ensure that Mr. Cochran does not meet the same fate. Last week, many of Washington’s top corporate lobbyists, representing an array of industries like shipping and telecommunications, gathered on Capitol Hill for a fund-raiser that brought in $800,000 for Mr. Cochran’s runoff election on June 24....

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The biggest donors to the political committees supporting Mr. Cochran’s campaign have all been large corporations like the defense contractors Raytheon and General Atomics. Michael R. Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York, wrote a check for $250,000 last month....

 

Senator Mitch McConnell, a Republican and the minority leader, who made a rare personal plea for donors to attend, told the crowd that the event was the biggest he had ever hosted, according to one lobbyist who was there. (The event was first reported by Politico.)

“People sometimes awaken when they see something like that,” Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, said of the late-surging support for Mr. Cochran from the business world."...

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6/13/14, "After Cantor Shock Independent Expenditures Resume (Updated)," Roll Call, Kent Cooper

"The day after House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s primary loss, major national organizations quickly resumed making large independent expenditures for and against candidates in the 2014 elections....

Updated, 8PM: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce reported this evening that it had spent $500,000 on June 13th for independent expenditures on TV advertisements supporting Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss." (end of article) 
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Added: The US Chamber of Commerce has wasted a fortune in recent years betting on the wrong side:
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In 2012 the Chamber of Commerce lost 10+ crucial US Senate races (listed below) in tandem with the same GOP establishment who brought them terrible results in 2006 and 2008.

The Chamber plans to double down in 2014 with the same game plan wasting precious resources of small and medium sized businesses across America:
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Ten+ 2012 US Senate races backed and lost by the Chamber of Commerce and the GOP establishment:

1. Florida,

• Chamber and Jeb Bush backed Connie Mack IV lost by 13 points.
• Jeb Bush and Connie Mack IV

2. Montana,

• In Montana, Romney beat Obama by 13.7 points. Chamber supported GOP Senate candidate Denny Rehberg still lost.

3. Hawaii

• Lingle lost by 25 points to the democrat.

4. Nevada,

• Republican Dean Heller was the incumbent having been appointed to the seat after scandal-compromised Republican Senator John Ensign resigned. Heller lost by 1.2 points to a democrat under an ethics investigation.

5. New Mexico 

• Heather Wilson lost an open seat to a democrat by 5.7 points.

6. North Dakota.

• In North Dakota Romney beat Obama by 19.6 points. GOP establishment and Chamber supported Senate candidate Rick Berg still lost to a non-incumbent democrat.

7. Virginia,

• George Allen lost by 5.9 points. In 2006 Allen only lost by .3. 

8. Wisconsin

• Tommy Thompson lost to a non-incumbent democrat by 5.5 points. Tammy Baldwin “authored a provision included in the Affordable Care Act that allows young adults to stay on their parent’s insurance until age 26.”

9. Maine,

• Angus King won by 22 points.

10. Ohio,

• The incumbent democrat won by 6 points.

Among other 2012 US Senate GOP/Chamber losses:
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+Massachusetts

• Incumbent Republican Scott Brown lost by 7.5 points to democrat Elizabeth Warren.
• “US Chamber calls Elizabeth Warren threat to free enterprise,” 8/15/12. Too bad Scott Brown lost after the Chamber helped him win his 2010 special election. Karl Rove robocalls at least kept Rove’s name in the news.

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Thad Cochran small donors: 1%. Chris McDaniel small donors: 33%:

6/6/14, 2014 Mississippi Senate Race, Open Secrets, "Raised and Spent" as of May 14, 2014
 
Thad Cochran

Chris McDaniel
 

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