Mississippi Tea Party Senate Challenger Attended Neo-Confederate Gatherings

Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Ellisville, tells colleagues about his opposition to an amendment for Medicaid expansion Friday, June 28, 2013 as the Republican-controlled Senate debates at the Capitol in Jackson, Miss. The a... Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Ellisville, tells colleagues about his opposition to an amendment for Medicaid expansion Friday, June 28, 2013 as the Republican-controlled Senate debates at the Capitol in Jackson, Miss. The amendment was defeated. The Senate voted overwhelmingly to renew and fund Medicaid beyond this coming weekend, when the program has been set to expire. Both Medicaid bills are on their way to Gov. Phil Bryant who is expected to sign them into law.(AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) MORE LESS
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Mississippi State Sen. Chris McDaniel (R), the recently announced primary challenger for Sen. Thad Cochran’s (R-Miss) Senate seat, spoke at a neo-Confederate conference in Laurel, Mississippi in August, according to Mother Jones.

The conference was hosted by the Jones County Rosin Heels, a local chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Invitations for the event described it as a “Southern Heritage Conference” intended for “politically incorrect folks.” Actually, Mother Jones also noted, that event was the second Jones County Rosin Heels event he recently attended. In June McDaniel was the keynote speaker at the Division Reunion in Jackson, also hosted by the Jones County Rosin Heels.

The Jones County Heels have been pretty clear about its secessionist sentiments, Mother Jones further noted. The group’s newsletter said in September said that “we are living in the times that Jefferson Davis predicted would one day come” where the disagreements that resulted in the Civil War arose again.

McDaniel is considered a top-tier challenger to Cochran. Almost immediately after he entered the race, he was endorsed by the Senate Conservatives Fund, The Madison Project and the Club for Growth.

A spokesman for McDaniel defended the appearance, saying that the state senator speaks to many different types of groups.

“Senator McDaniel has driven across Mississippi to speak to many groups over the past decade,” McDaniel spokesman Keith Plunkett told Mother Jones. “He will speak to groups whether they are ideologically [sic] on the left or the right and anywhere in between, because he believes the message of individual freedom that comes from following the Constitution is something that benefits every American.”

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