Former Democratic Rep. Travis Childers, D-Miss., announced he is running for the U.S. Senate seat in Mississippi, giving Democrats a fighting chance to perhaps win the red state if Republicans end up pulling a Todd Akin or Richard Mourdock – that is, nominating a candidate who proves to be deeply flawed.
Currently in Mississippi, incumbent Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., is receiving a GOP primary challenge from state Sen. Chris McDaniel -- one of the GOP's several establishment-vs.-Tea Party primaries.
The Democrats' hope is that if McDaniel somehow wins the June 3 primary, Childers may be able to make the race competitive. That said, Obama got just 44 percent of the vote in Mississippi in 2012.
Childers lost his congressional seat in 2010 to Rep. Alan Nunnelee, R-Miss.