Stephanie Grace: Retiring Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran was there was Louisiana needed him

In this Jan. 21, 2018, photo, lights shine inside the U.S. Capitol Building as night falls in Washington. President Donald Trump will deliver his first State of the Union address Tuesday night but, as always, lawmakers are angling to steal part of the spotlight.

Officials: Woman to fill Senate vacancy in Mississippi

In this July 27, 2017, file photo Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce Cindy Hyde-Smith speaks at the Neshoba County Fair in Philadelphia, Miss. The state's governor will appoint Hyde-Smith as Mississippi's first female member of Congress to fill the Senate vacancy that will soon be created when Sen. Thad Cochran retires, three state Republicans told The Associated Press on Tuesday, March 20, 2018.

US Senate appointee in Mississippi pledges to support Trump

In this July 27, 2017, file photo Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce Cindy Hyde-Smith speaks at the Neshoba County Fair in Philadelphia, Miss. The state's governor will appoint Hyde-Smith as Mississippi's first female member of Congress to fill the Senate vacancy that will soon be created when Sen. Thad Cochran retires, three state Republicans told The Associated Press on Tuesday, March 20, 2018.

Mississippi passes law banning abortion after 15 weeks

To continue reading this premium story, you need to become a member. Click below to take advantage of an exclusive offer for new members: FILE - In this June 30, 2015, file photo, Pam Miller, of Pro Life Mississippi, walks along the fence surrounding as she attempts to counsel a person entering the Jackson Women's Health Organization clinic near downtown Jackson, Miss.

AP NewsBreak: Miss. Sen. Thad Cochran resigning April 1

Longtime Republican Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi said Monday he will resign because of health problems - triggering what could be a chaotic special election to fill the seat he has held for a generation. Cochran, who turned 80 in December and has been in poor health, has been a sporadic presence on Capitol Hill in recent months.

Challenge announced against Mississippi’s Sen. Roger Wicker Source: AP

A tea party-backed state lawmaker who came close to unseating one of Mississippi's U.S. senators during a bitter 2014 race announced Wednesday that he will challenge the state's other U.S. Republican senator, Roger Wicker. Republican Chris McDaniel had hinted at the decision for days and made the announcement at an afternoon rally in his hometown of Ellisville.

Continue reading CBC Members Call Trump Presence at Museum Opening an Insult a ‘

When two members of the Congressional Black Caucus, longtime Mississippi Congressman Bennie Thompson and civil rights legend Rep. John Lewis , heard that President Donald Trump planned to attend the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum dedication ceremony, they both announced that they would forego the event. On December 7, White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, "We think it's unfortunate that these members of Congress wouldn't join the president in honoring the incredible sacrifice civil rights leaders made to right the injustices in our history.

With Trump, some African Americans to skip Mississippi event

Robert Daugherty, wrestles with a concrete mooring cover as he tries not to step into the muhly grass along the temporary covered walk way to the state's two newest museums, the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017 in Jackson, Miss. A temporary performance stage, a covered walk way, 2,500 seats are in the process of being built or arranged in the small plaza that rests in front of the two museums.

Mississippi woman seeks parental rights in same-sex divorce

Chris Strickland recalls the painful months without contact to her now six-year-old son, after she and her wife divorced, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2017, in Pearl, Miss. Strickland, whose wife had a son through in-vitro fertilization and later divorced, is arguing before the Mississippi Supreme Court, that a lower court should be overruled and she should have legal status as a legal parent.

Justices reject appeal over Mississippi Confederate emblem

In this June 23, 2015, file photo, the Mississippi state flag is unfurled against the front of the Governor's Mansion in Jackson, Miss. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, Nov. 27, 2017, rejected an appeal from African-American attorney Carlos Moore who called the Confederate battle emblem on the Mississippi flag "an official endorsement of white supremacy."

Mississippi Anti-LGBT ‘Religious Freedom’ Law Takes Effect

A Mississippi law enabling sweeping anti-LGBT discrimination in the name of "religious freedom" took effect Tuesday as a result of a federal appeals court decision throwing out a legal challenge to the statute. The law, House Bill 1523, was signed by Gov. Phil Bryant last year in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of same-sex marriage nationwide.

New delay in Miss. law on objection to gay marriage

New court action has created a slight delay for a Mississippi law that, barring an intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court, will let government workers and business people cite their own religious objections to refuse services to gay couples. Opponents asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday to keep blocking the law, which has been on hold more than a year.

Court asks Mississippi governor to defend Confederate emblem

In this Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016 file photo, a state flag of Mississippi is unfurled by Sons of Confederate Veterans and other groups on the grounds of the state Capitol in Jackson, Miss. The U.S. Supreme Court is asking attorneys for Mississippi's governor to file arguments defending the Confederate battle emblem on the state flag.

Push to strip Confederate emblem from Mississippi flag heats up

The Mississippi state flag, top, shares space with the bicentennial banner designed by the Mississippi Economic Council to recognize the state's bicentennial anniversary, outside the Governor's Mansion in Jackson, Miss., Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017. Mississippi lawmakers are renewing calls to change the state flag, which prominently features the Confederate emblem, after violence erupted during a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., last weekend.

Federal Court Upholds Law Allowing Refusal Of Service To LGBT Couples

A law allowing business owner to deny service to LGBT couples was ruled enforceable in Mississippi by a federal court Thursday. The U.S. Court of Appeals, 5th circuit struck down a district court's injunction against the law , which now allows business owners to refuse to serve gay, lesbian, or transgender couples on grounds of religious objection and also permits clerks to refuse to issue marriage licenses to LGBT couples.

Miss. fire chief: Blaze at African-American church was arson

Somebody set the fire that heavily damaged an African-American church that was also spray-painted with the phrase "Vote Trump," and an $11,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the conviction of whoever did it, a Mississippi fire chief said Wednesday. The FBI has opened a civil rights investigation of the Tuesday night fire at the 200-member Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church, and Greenville Mayor Errick Simmons called the fire and graffiti a hate crime.