Brett Favre, retired NFL quarterback, recently lent his support to Republican incumbent Thad Cochran in his bid for reelection to the United States Senate.

Favre was born in Gulfport, Mississippi and raised in the nearby small town of Kiln. He attended University of Southern Mississippi before being drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the 1991 NFL Draft.

Cochran is up against Tea Party-backed state Senator Chris McDaniel in the Mississippi primary. Voters first went to the polls on June 3, in a vote that slightly favored McDaniel. However McDaniel needed at least 50 percent of the votes, which he didn’t get. So he and Cochran will face off again on June 24.

“A lot of people stayed home because they thought we had it in the bag,” Cochran said after the June 3 vote. “Now we’ve discovered that this is a close election. I’m appealing to my friends and supporters to get busy and work with me.”

Cochran and his backers are pulling out all the stops, and that’s where Favre’s endorsement comes in. Favre lent his support in the form of an advertisement on the US Chamber of Commerce’s YouTube channel:

“I’ve learned through football that strong leadership makes the difference between winning and losing. And when it comes to our state’s future, trust me: Mississippi can win and win big with Thad Cochran,” Favre said in the ad. “Thad Cochran always delivers, just like he did during Katrina.”

Cochran’s tenure in the US Senate dates all the way back to the Carter Administration: he was first elected in 1978, making him the third most-senior Senator and the second most-senior Republican member.

How much will your taxes go up with Chris McDaniel? Thad's new ad has the answer: http://t.co/6JZBAOmhbJ

— Thad for Mississippi (@ThadforMS) June 19, 2014

The US Chamber of Commerce is one of Cochran’s biggest supporters. They’ve spent more than $500,000 on campaign ads in his race against McDaniel.

The Chamber has funneled its support through the Mississippi Conservatives PAC, headed by Henry Barbour, nephew of former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour who still wields tremendous political influence in the state.

According to the younger Barbour the US Chamber of Commerce has “credibility with regular folks down here, and people pay attention when they engage.”

“The Washington insiders and politicians who caused this mess will not be the ones to fix it.” – @senatormcdaniel #McDanielmentum

— McDaniel for Senate (@CMForUSSenate) June 17, 2014

But some see the Barbours’ support of Cochran as an example of good old boys taking care of one of their own, part of a “Republican elite that would rather cut deals with Democrats to spend more public money than rein in the size and power of the federal government.”

Image via YouTube