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Yet McDaniel has failed to put the contest away, even as Tea Party-aligned groups are pouring money into Mississippi to deny Cochran a seventh term. The insurgent has made a series of tactical errors, while Cochran and his establishment allies well-funded and prepared for combat have been eviscerating McDaniel on the airwaves.

The race has also been roiled over the past week by a bizarre incident in which a pro-McDaniel blogger was arrested for taking an illicit photo of Cochrans bedridden wife, Rose, who has dementia and lives in a nursing home.

There are few reliable public polls in Mississippi. Strategists in the state say the race has been close, with Cochran enjoying a slight advantage, although they sensed that McDaniel had been gaining steam before the nursing home episode.

Conservative groups still searching for their first victory in knocking off an entrenched incumbent this year are doubling down to prop up McDaniel in the run-up to the June 3 primary.

This is it, said political analyst Stuart Rothenberg, editor and publisher of the Rothenberg Political Report. For all the early hype about the [Senate Minority Leader Mitch] McConnell primary challenge, the Cochran race has always been the best opportunity for the libertarian-slash-tea party folks.

Citizens United and ForAmerica will soon begin advertising in Mississippi, joining an array of conservative organizations backing McDaniel. Together, Tea Party-aligned groups have spent nearly $2.4 million compared to $1.8 million invested by pro-Cochran groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, according to Federal Election Commission data compiled by the Sunlight Foundation.

L. Brent Bozell III said his group, ForAmerica, has decided to get behind McDaniel this week with a six-figure buy, focused on digital advertising.

Im not looking for scalps, but I am looking for conservative victories, and Cochran remains a top target, he said. He campaigns as a conservative and governs as a moderate.

David Bossie, president of Citizens United, whose political arm has backed McDaniel since January, plans to focus on the final stretch. Beginning Thursday, Bossie said, he will spend $175,000 for statewide cable and broadcast advertisements a significant buy for the modestly sized tea party group.

This is about Mississippi voters, who want a conservative leader in Washington raising Mississippis voice to be with the Ted Cruz/Mike Lee part of the party, not part of the establishment and part of the problem, Bossie said, referring to the combative senators from Texas and Utah.

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Tea party makes its last stand in Mississippi, targeting longtime Sen. Thad Cochran