Geoff Pender | Mississippi Clarion Ledger

Geoff Pender/Clarion Ledger

Author and attorney Andy Taggart, a Republican patriarch in Mississippi, said Thursday he is "very seriously considering running" for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Thad Cochran.

File, Clarion Ledger

"I believe the outcome of this (Nov. 6) special election is of such crucial importance to our state and to the nation," Taggart said in a written statement.

Taggart's statement comes a day after Republican Gov. Phil Bryant announced he will appoint Agriculture Commissioner Cindy Hyde-Smith to Cochran's seat temporarily and support her election to the post in November. It also comes amid Bryant facing some Republican backlash over his choice.

Many establishment GOP leaders in Mississippi and Washington, including Taggart and White House advisers, have questioned Bryant's choice. They fear Hyde-Smith, who served for years as a Democratic state senator, would be vulnerable to a challenge from the right or left. Republican, tea party-backed state Sen. Chris McDaniel is running, as is former Clinton administration U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy, who also served in Congress for six years.

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Taggart in recent days on social media had obliquely questioned Bryant's choice on social media.

I have a lot of confidence in @PhilBryantMS to make a wise choice on current @SenThadCochran vacancy. But I also intend to hold open whatever options are needed to fend off @senatormcdaniel, including a run against him. — Andy Taggart (@Andy_Taggart) March 18, 2018

Today was Senator-Designate Cindy Hyde-Smith’s day.



She is entitled to the honor that she enjoyed as the Governor’s appointee.



McDaniel is granted the mean comments that he made about her, unjustified and offensive as they were.



Tomorrow, we look to the future of our state. — Andy Taggart (@Andy_Taggart) March 22, 2018

Good morning, Mississippi!



Today is the first day of the rest of our history. Let’s write it the way we will want our grandchildren to read it, in words of liberty, equality, optimism and opportunity! — Andy Taggart (@Andy_Taggart) March 22, 2018

Asked about Taggart's announcement, a Bryant spokesman said in a statement, "Mississippi made history yesterday when Gov. Bryant announced he will appoint Cindy Hyde-Smith to the U.S. Senate. He will do everything he can to ensure she is elected in November because she exemplifies the conservative values Mississippi needs in Washington."

GOP leaders backing Bryant's choice fear Taggart or other Republicans jumping into the race against Hyde-Smith and McDaniel could further split the vote and ultimately hand the race to Espy. The special election will not have party primaries but be a free-for-all — either a candidate will take more than 50 percent and win, or it will go to a runoff between the top two vote-getters three weeks later.

With the Republican Senate majority hanging in the balance in the midterm elections, national GOP leaders are uneasy at the potential of losing what has been a solid red seat for decades and unhappy at the prospect of having to spend a lot of campaign money to keep it.

Campaigns for Hyde-Smith, McDaniel and Espy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Taggart served as chief of staff for the late Gov. Kirk Fordice, who in 1991 became the first Republican elected governor in Mississippi since Reconstruction. This was when the state — and much of the Deep South — was still staunchly Democratic before the Republican wave that started in the late '90s and early 2000s.

Taggart used Fordice's win as somewhat of a warning against appointing a former Democrat to the seat in a tweet the day before Bryant officially announced Hyde-Smith as his choice to replace Cochran.

In 1991, the entire GOP Establishment supported a recent party switcher and statewide office holder in the race for Governor. Instead, Kirk Fordice came roaring out of nowhere and won a three-way primary. — Andy Taggart (@Andy_Taggart) March 20, 2018

"In 1991, the entire GOP Establishment supported a recent party switcher and statewide office holder in the race for Governor. instead, Kirk Fordice came roaring out of nowhere and won a three-way primary," Taggart tweeted Tuesday.

Taggart is a former executive director and political director of the state Republican Party. He has long been active in community service and on numerous government boards and commissions and is a former elected Madison County supervisor.

Taggart wrote two political books — "Mississippi Politics: The Struggle for Power, 1976-2008" and "Mississippi Fried Politics: Tall Tales from the Back Rooms" — with Jere Nash, a longtime Democratic politico. While on opposite sides of most political battles, the two have shared a close friendship and professional partnership, including as columnists and commentators.

In 2016, Taggart was the state campaign chairman for Ohio Gov. John Kasich's presidential campaign.