Newly revealed documents cast a doubtful glare on where exactly Republican Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran calls home.
The documents, as first reported by Breitbart, show that since 2003, Cochran repeatedly lists an address owned by an aide as his primary residence. His campaign claimed that his primary residence was instead a self-described “cabin” in Oxford, MS, but on formal documents, Cochran identified that residence in 2006 and 2010 as a second home.
The primary residence that Cochran lists in D.C. is located near the Capitol and is an apartment in an austere row-house condominium. The owner of the home is listed as his executive assistant, Kay Webber. Cochran’s campaign says the senator pays the market-value in rent each month.
In 2005, 2006 and 2008, he listed his apartment at the townhouse as his primary residence in official documents.
In the two years he listed the cabin in Mississippi as a second home, Cochran filled out the box noted as “second home rider” in his applications to the Federal Election Commission, which is a designation intended to show that the dwelling is not a primary living place and sometimes gives the applicant a lower rate on the property.
Cochran’s campaign said that it was a simple mistake and that he calls the Mississippi cabin home.
“Anyone who tries to tell you that Thad Cochran doesn’t live in Mississippi doesn’t know what they’re talking about. It’s just not true,” Jordan Russell, a spokesman for the Cochran campaign, told Breitbart.
Cochran is currently facing a strong challenge from state senator Chris McDaniel in the GOP primary.
“Senator Cochran is a perfect example of what’s wrong with D.C.,” Noel Fritsch, a McDaniel spokesman told The Daily Caller, “he has been there for nearly 42 years and doesn’t spend much time in the state he’s supposed to represent.”
“Sen. Cochran is out-of-touch with the people of Mississippi,” Fritsch said in a statement, “and his four decades of voting for more spending, his own pay raises, tax hikes, taxpayer funded abortion, and even to fund Obamacare, demonstrate that Thad Cochran puts D.C. ahead of Mississippians.”
In 2012, The Daily Caller reported that Sen. Richard Lugar had not lived in Indiana, the state he represented, for over 30 years — a fact that may have cost him his seat.
Recent polls show the Mississippi race, which will be decided on June 3, to be a toss-up between Cochran and McDaniel, with the nominee likely going on to win the general election.