a 4–2 decision. 2018 U.S. Senate campaign McDaniel originally declared that he would run against Senator Roger Wicker in the 2018 Republican primary. On March 5, 2018, Thad Cochran announced he would resign effective April 1, 2018, due to health concerns. Republican Governor Phil Bryant appointed Cindy Hyde-Smith to fill the vacancy created by Cochran's retirement. A nonpartisan blanket primary to fill the Senate vacancy for the remainder of Cochran's term was scheduled for November 6, 2018. These developments prompted McDaniel to cease his primary challenge to Wicker and instead run in the nonpartisan blanket primary to fill Cochran's vacated seat. McDaniel said, "by announcing early, we are asking Mississippi Republicans to unite around my candidacy and avoid another contentious contest among GOP members that would only improve the Democrats' chances of winning the open seat." He was the second candidate to enter the race. The first, Democrat Mike Espy, declared his candidacy shortly after Cochran announced his resignation. Hyde-Smith later defeated McDaniel in a nonpartisan blanket primary with two Democrats and two Republicans contending for the office; McDaniel received 16.4% of the vote. 2023 lieutenant governor campaign On January 30, 2023, McDaniel announced his candidacy for lieutenant governor of Mississippi in 2023, challenging incumbent Republican Delbert Hosemann in the primary. Political positions McDaniel has far-right political views. Eminent domain As a first-term senator in 2010, McDaniel urged his fellow state senators to override Governor Haley Barbour's veto of eminent domain legislation that would prevent government from taking private land for use by private companies. The override effort failed by two votes, but began a ballot initiative to amend the Mississippi Constitution. The ballot initiative passed the following year. Healthcare In April 2010, McDaniel led a lawsuit seeking to have the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) deemed unconstitutional. LGBT rights and women McDaniel has said of former Attorney General Janet Reno, "I'm not even sure Janet Reno was a woman". He has said that the Democratic Party is the party of "sex on demand, the party that supports the homosexual agenda". On January 22, 2017, McDaniel responded on Facebook to the 2017 Women's March by referring to marchers as "a bunch of unhappy liberal women" and stated that he opposes using federal funds to pay for birth control and abortion. Immigration In 2007, McDaniel's immigration policy, as stated on his website, plagiarized text from a number of anti-immigration