FILE - This June 30, 2009 file photo shows Vicksburg, Miss. Mayor, then-State Rep. George Flaggs, D-Vicksburg speaking at the Capitol in Jackson, Miss. With sending a Republican to the U.S. Senate likely, several black Mississippians who may otherwise vote Democratic tried to swing a primary victory toward six-term incumbent Sen. Thad Cochran by casting ballots in their state’s GOP primary. Flaggs who served 26 years in the state House of Representatives before winning the city office in 2013, said Tuesday he voted for Cochran because “Thad's been good for Mississippi,” and helped bring a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' research station to his city. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)