Cochran Campaign Staffer Arrested For Destroying Tea Partier’s Yard Signs

Sen. Thad Cochran, R. Miss., talks to reporters while touring the Elizabeth Harkins Hall nursing building on the University of Southern Mississippi campus during a campaign stop in Hattiesburg, Miss., Tuesday, June 1... Sen. Thad Cochran, R. Miss., talks to reporters while touring the Elizabeth Harkins Hall nursing building on the University of Southern Mississippi campus during a campaign stop in Hattiesburg, Miss., Tuesday, June 10, 2014. Cochran will face state Sen. Chris McDaniel in a primary runoff on June 24. (AP Photo/Hattiesburg American, Kelly Price) MORE LESS
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A staffer for Sen. Thad Cochran’s (R-MS) campaign, Lee Ellis Blair, has been arrested for allegedly stealing campaign signs for state Sen. Chris McDaniel’s (R-MS).

Communications Director Jordan Russell confirmed Blair’s arrest to TPM on Monday and said that Blair would no longer be working for the campaign. “Unlike McDaniel, we do not tolerate this kind of behavior,” Russell said.

Blair served as a field rep in DeSoto County for the Cochran campaign.

McDaniel is challenging Cochran in the runoff on Tuesday for United States Senate in Mississippi.

According to Breitbart, which obtained a redacted copy of the police report of the arrest, Blair, who is on the DeSoto County GOP executive committee, was arrested on Sunday and charged with “malicious mischief” for attempting to “disfigure, destroy, injure (or cause to be)” a Chris McDaniel campaign sign.

This story was updated.

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Notable Replies

  1. Campaign signs are people too?

  2. What’s the record for most arrests in one campaign?

  3. What an idiot thing to do. Especially when Cochran was already fighting the good fight against his opponent’s unethical behavior and had at the very least, the upper-hand until this ridiculously stupid move. Not that I give a shit…

  4. These folks are certainly contenders, but Nixon’s '72 campaign is a pretty high bar.

  5. Agreed. Very stupid move (although he’s a republican, so not a surprise). Making McDaniel a victim here is not going to do the Cochran campaign any good.

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