“Had I run and been elected, I would have gone to Washington to serve ALL Mississippians, not one political party. We need more of that on all levels of government," Brandon Presley said in a statement. | Rogelio V. Solis/AP Photo Top Democratic recruit passes on Mississippi Senate run

Brandon Presley, Democrats’ top recruit for an acknowledged uphill campaign for Senate in Mississippi, announced Thursday that he would not run for the seat held by Republican Sen. Roger Wicker this year.

Sources familiar with the decision say that it was driven by a sense that Chris McDaniel — the conservative state senator who nearly knocked off Sen. Thad Cochran in a bitter GOP primary four years ago — would not be able to mount a strong primary challenge against Wicker, especially in the wake of the political collapse of Steve Bannon, who’d been pushing McDaniel to run again.


Presley, a distant relative of Elvis and chair of the Northern District of the Mississippi Public Service Commission, had been approached by both Democratic Senate Campaign Committee chair Chris Van Hollen (Md.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.). He’d taken a harder look at the race after now-Sen. Doug Jones’ surprise win in Alabama — but in informal conversations around the state, Presley supporters became convinced that McDaniel wouldn’t be strong enough to run, and that Wicker couldn’t be defeated.

They also found that people hadn't forgiven McDaniel for running against Cochran in 2014, or for the staffer who went to take pictures of his ailing wife in a care facility.

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“I’m sincerely grateful for the words of encouragement, pledges of volunteers, financial support and prayers,” Presley said in a statement. “Had I run and been elected, I would have gone to Washington to serve ALL Mississippians, not one political party. We need more of that on all levels of government.”

Presley stressed that turning away from the race doesn’t mean he’s turning away from issues that are at play in Washington.

“In the coming days, I plan to call on Senator Wicker and Senator Cochran to support the resolution pending in the Senate to stop the FCC’s repeal of Net Neutrality rules. I simply didn’t want my stance on this vitally important issue to Mississippi to be viewed as political grandstanding by someone who is looking to run for the Senate,” he said, adding that he believes the repeal will hurt rural Mississippians while helping big telecommunications companies.

Presley’s exit leaves Democrats with Mississippi as the only state without a candidate as they try to go on offense even in deep Republican parts of the country. Attention now turns to David Baria, a lawyer and state House minority leader.

Baria said Thursday that he’s “taking a very careful look at it. I feel like Mississippi needs some real leadership right now. This is a critical time in our nation and our state. We just can’t continue to stand still while other states move forward.”

Baria said he hasn’t yet heard from Van Hollen or Schumer, but he has been in touch with a staffer from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. He said he feels like he might be the right candidate, and will decide in the next few weeks. The filing deadline is March 1.

“It’s certainly encouraging to see the people of Alabama be willing to support a moderate Democrat,” he said.