Al Gore loses again… sort of

Washington (CNN) - If your name is Al Gore, your luck in electoral politics may be in question.

In the race for Mississippi's Senate seat, CNN projects that Republican incumbent Sen. Roger Wicker has defeated Democratic challenger Albert N. Gore Jr.


Here is what the 82-year old Gore is known for: he was a Green Beret and master parachutist in the Army with 91 jumps under his belt and the rank of colonel. He has a fondness for cigars and pipes, lit or unlit. And in 1998, he retired from a 51-year career as a Methodist minister.
Here is what Gore isn't known for: being related to Albert Arnold Gore, the recognizable former vice president and failed presidential candidate.
At an interview during the Democratic National Convention, where both Gores were delegates, the Mississippi Senate candidate said he tossed his green beret into the ring when "no one else would step up."
"I promised the party last year that if no one stepped up, I would," he said. "I'm not one to sit around and wait for someone else to do it."
Gore's chances of victory, however, were never considered good. Stuart Rothenberg, a non-partisan political analyst and editor of the Rothenberg Political Report, was blunt in assessing the race: "Wrong state. Wrong party. Wrong Gore. His chance of winning is zero."
Gore, however, wasn't phased by his long odds of victory, citing his time as a Green Beret as the reason.
"You overcome any fears," he said. "I'm a Green Beret. Nothing is impossible."
Wicker's victory makes him a two-term senator. He was appointed in 2007 and then won a special election in 2008.