Sen. Thad Cochran Resigns

Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), who serves as chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee, announced Monday that he is resigning from the Senate on April 1 for health reasons. His decision creates two Senate races in his home state in November.

Cochran is a former chairman of the Ag Committee and helped author the 2014 Farm Bill, when he championed the needs of his state’s rice and cotton farmers.

Cochran was first elected to the Senate in 1978, becoming the first Republican in more than 100 years to win a statewide election in Mississippi.

Cochran’s retirement means that Gov. Phil Bryant, a Republican, will appoint an interim senator. A special election would then be held on Election Day in November to fill the rest of Cochran’s term, which expires in 2020.

Source: New York Times